Nitrofen Scandal Hurts Meat Sales

LONDON - Sep 25/02 - SNS -- German demand for organic meat was hurt by the recent scandal over Nitrofen contamination, concludes a new strategic report by industry consultants, Organic Monitor (www.organicmonitor.com).

The German market for organic meat products remains the largest in Europe however consumer confidence has weakened since May 2002 when news broke that tainted organic wheat was fed to poultry at organic farms.

This led to a sharp reduction in organic meat sales with consumer demand for organic poultry collapsing during the peak of the crisis. The organization found the value of meat sales could plunge by 24% to € (euro) 481 million this year. Organic poultry revenues were also hurt and could fall by a half in 2002.

Supermarkets experienced the sharpest sales decrease with many retailers withdrawing organic meat products since the scandal. The loss in consumer confidence has not been as great in the specialist retailers with many reporting that sales were slowly returning to pre-scandal levels. Organic food shops and butchers remain the most important marketing channels for organic meat products and their market share is projected to increase due to ailing interest from the supermarkets.

The subscriber version of the article is available by Clicking here