Specialized shops also offer many more products of Belgian origin.
The specialized organic and bulk food sector suffered in 2022, as inflation and energy prices likely pushed many consumers to turn to mass retailers.
However, a basket of 21 organic products analyzed by the networks of professionals in the sector Biowallonia and ConsomAction delivered an almost identical invoice.
However, differences were observed. Pears, apples, potatoes, tomatoes, leeks and white cabbage are less expensive in specialty stores. For carrots and onions, benefit to mass distribution.
Butter and fresh goat’s cheese are cheaper in organic stores, while beef, pork and other dairy products are cheaper in supermarkets and hypermarkets.
Regarding the origin, 87% of fruit and vegetables in specialized stores come from Belgium, compared to 26% for supermarkets. For beef and pork, it is even 100% of Belgian origin against 20% in supermarkets. For dairy products, 92% of Belgian origin is found in specialized stores compared to 50% in supermarkets.
The networks of representatives of the organic and bulk sector also pride themselves on almost no use of packaging, in notable contrast to the practices of mass distribution.
Finally, the specialized stores “offer a model of support for local agriculture and Belgian artisanal processing by favoring them on their shelves and by distributing the margin more equitably over the entire chain”, welcome the authors of the observatory, which will be renewed every three months.
The exercise was carried out on the basis of prices recorded in 58 organic, bulk and farm-gate sales outlets in Brussels and Wallonia, ie 12% of the sector as a whole. These were compared to the prices collected by Socopro in the three major Belgian distribution chains.