Jump in German retail market share for non-GMO food
In 2019, manufacturers and processors achieved a turnover of around €8.8bn on goods carrying the non-GMO seal, called ‘Ohne GenTechnik’ in German.
Consumers spent about €11.3bn on them, which was a 15% hike on that spend in 2018, said VLOG, which manages the seal. That organization expects consumer spending on non-GMO gooks to increase to at least €11.8bn this year.
In November last year, VLOG reported that the non-GMO cheese category is seeing the greatest growth in terms of sales in Germany. Some 69% of non-GMO products sold in Germany are dairy products, typically milk and yogurts but the cheese category is seeing rapid expansion, said Hissting. Poultry meat comes next with 17% of sales, followed by non-GMO eggs at 10%.
Non-GMO pork category
There is still a lot to be done in terms of the pork category, though, when it comes to ‘Ohne GenTechnik’ (OG) goods. Some 99% of the pigs in Germany are still fed genetically modified soy, commented VLOG managing director, Alexander Hissting.
The pork market is beginning to see a move in this direction, however limited, he told this publication.
Last year saw two German retail chains announce that they had included pork in their range of products produced without genetically modified feed.
Kaufland has 18 pork products of the quality brand Wertschätze with the OG seal at the service counters of its 660 markets.
Tegut's meat brand, LandPrimus, covering beef, pork and poultry, also carries the OG label. The more than 75 LandPrimus products are offered in around 130 service counters of the regional retailer.
Lidl lead the way on non-GMO salmon
There has also been a push on to have non-GMO certified farmed fish products. In December 2019, Lidl Germany announced that, from now on, frozen salmon fillet sourced from the Faeroe Islands as well as its fresh Norwegian salmon range would bear the OG label, with Norwegian smoked salmon products to carry the seal from early 2020.
Late last year, we reported that there were 1,073 feed related companies based in Germany but also in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium, certified against the VLOG standard today. “That can be feed producers, logistic companies or mixers and grinders,” explained Hissting.
