Australian companies are set to benefit from a burgeoning demand for Australian certified organic products in China.
“The demand for certified organic products has risen so rapidly over these last few years and especially in the Chinese market because of the stronger purchasing power from the region’s growing wealthy middle class sector,” announced Australian Organic’s commercial manager, Joanne Barber.
Australia has the largest area of certified organic land in the world with 22 million hectares worth. In comparison, China has 1.2 million hectares of land certified as organic.
Australian Certified Organic products may be tipped to be one of the largest exports from the Australian economy, said Barber, and Australian SMEs should work to gain access to the Chinese market through achieving organic accreditation.
In a statement late last year, National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia’s general manager, Ben Copeman, said that existing overseas demand for Australia’s organic produce, mainly from the US, Europe and Southeast Asia, were already positioning Australian organic producers under heavy demand.
“You overlay China on top of that and we’re in for a seriously big boom. I’m talking 10 to 15 years of pretty good returns for organic producers,” he said.
The Chinese organic market is currently worth more than US$10 Billion and has a high rate of growth.
Arcadian Meat Co, Angove Family Winemakers and Murray River Organic’s are some of the businesses that have achieved this through the assistance of Australian Certified Organic.
For now the process of achieving Chinese organic certification remains relatively complicated as Chinese certification officials are required to be present during an Australian audit. But the Australian Certified Organic can assist businesses in the process and meeting organic regulatory requirements for various industries including retail and farming.
Chinese consumers are actively looking for healthier options for their family and with the changes to international trade, Australian Certified Organic producers are in a position to supply those options to those discerning consumers.
“This not only benefits the Chinese community by giving them more quality options for their family but also benefits our farmers here in Australia who are producing these highly demanded products”.
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