“So far we are only dealing with slight price increases in the shops,” Diana Schaak from the Agricultural Market Information Society.

But that is likely to change because of higher producer prices and higher energy and transport costs, she added.

According to a survey commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Food, 38% of respondents frequently or exclusively bought organic food last year, up from 37% in the previous year’s survey.

In the future, 41% said they would buy organic products frequently – and 6% plan to do so exclusively, according to the Eco-Barometer survey.

“Organic has long been more than just a trend,” food minister Cem Özdemir told dpa.

His ministry sees greater growth potential in the catering industry and in institutional food service in general. The conditions for production, processing and marketing are to be further improved with subsidies.

Last year, organic food and beverages in Germany achieved a turnover of almost €16 billion ($18.2 billion), according to the Federation of the Organic Food Industry (BÖLW), an increase of almost 6% compared to 2020.

About 1-2% of the sales increases in 2021 were due to price increases, 4-5% to volume increases, said Schaak.

Especially in the case of meat and meat substitutes, the purchasing behaviour of consumers is changing, said BÖLW chairwoman Tina Andres.

According to BÖLW, organic products now account for almost 7% of the German food market.