The share of organic in the retail (grocery and specialty) was more than 4.3% in 2015. Organic sales increased by 11.5 percent to 1.3 billion euros in 2015. In the first half of 2016 the growth at the supermarkets goes on.

While the specialized organic shops finished the year 2015 with a minimal shrinkage of 0.3% they could achieve a growth of 2.3% in the first half of 2016. The supermarkets however achieved 18.5% growth in their sales of organic goods. The Dutch organisation Bionext released these figures in its Trend Report 2015. Bavo the Idsert, Director of Bionext: "Consumers are increasingly opting for products that are animal and environmentally friendly.

New organic farmers and growers wanted

The growth of the organic acreage in the Netherlands can not keep up with the market growth. In 2015 the number of hectares of certified land even decreased by 0.6%. Fortunately, there has been a new trend in spring 2016: the certification body Skal Biocontrol reports more and more farmers are going to switch. But with a growth of 1.6%, there is still plenty of room for more.

Van den Idsert says: "The government should do more to stimulate the organic agriculture. In its Action Plan Bionext described 39 measures to facilitate the sustainable growth of the organic sector."