Organic has morale at half mast, “demand is down 40 to 50%”

The Potager de Camille, a grouping of two organic farms, has been in disarray for two years. Inflation, distributors’ sudden disinterest in its products and rising energy prices have halved revenues. And this case is far from an isolated case.

Le Potager de Camille is located about thirty kilometers northwest of Strasbourg, in the small village of Buswiller. This is the grouping of the organic farms of Jean-Christophe Sussmann and Julien Scharsch, two lovers of the land who grow organic and natural products with passion.

Their values ​​are not yield, but respect for customers, the land, the quality of water used, the fauna and the floral biodiversity endemic to their crops. No pesticides or chemical mineral fertilizers are used here.

Crop rotation, the addition of fresh or composted organic matter, the cultivation of legumes and green manures are preferred. Weeding is mainly based on the presence of alfalfa in the rotation and the use of mechanical tools.

However, for two years now, this 100% organic production has been experiencing major difficulties, mainly due to inflation, which has halved incomes. Due to the crisis, morale, will and enthusiasm have taken a major hit in recent years.

“The problems started about two years ago, when all major supermarkets simultaneously turned away from organic products in a short period of time.remembers Jean-Christophe Sussmann. Demand has fallen by 40 to 50%. They have withdrawn our organic products from the market and replaced them with ‘cheap’ products imported from Spain and Morocco in an attempt to reduce inflation.”

This farm, which had been functioning very well until then, was severely affected by this lack of interest, both on the part of consumers and those who marketed its products.
The situation has become complicated for the entire sector, which is responsible for large-scale distribution “which has significantly increased its margins on organic products, holding back consumers who no longer have them.”

“Then they took our organic products out of their baskets, replacing them with cheap products, imported from Spain and Morocco, cheaper and cheaper, to reduce inflation. the farmer regrets. This is how the ‘disillusionment with organic’, as they call it, began.”

Two years ago, Jean-Christophe Sussmann and Julien Scharsch even had to throw away a large part of their harvest because it was in their hands when supermarkets stopped buying their products overnight.

Rising sales prices, inflation and rising energy prices have worsened the situation. Costs have risen significantly due to the price of fuel, but also that of electricity, the bill for which has quadrupled, while vegetables have to be kept in cold rooms. For the two organic producers, the additional energy costs amount to 100,000 euros in one year. They try to stay on course as best they can, but they are in pain.

They had to adapt by producing much less so as not to have to sell their products below a certain threshold. Two years ago they had sown 40 hectares, today they have reduced this area by half. And of their thirty employees, only ten are left today.

To survive, they were forced to develop other products, such as ready-made meals, such as potato pancakes prepared by Albert, a former chef who sells them in the store on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Demoralized, Jean-Christophe Sussmann sometimes thinks about recycling or renting his hangars, to finally see the end of the tunnel. The two gardeners are bitter because they feel that the root of the problem is financial and political and that they do not have the power at their level to change things. “Everything is designed to make big industries work, and nothing is done so that small farmers can survive,” they say bitterly.

And their case is far from isolated. Some organic gardeners have already stopped their activity or switched to conventional farms. Moreover, as of May 3, 432 applications for an emergency aid plan had been submitted in Alsace alone.