Significant increase in organic pork production

The volume of organic pork in the Netherlands has grown from 2015 tons of carcass weight to 6.184 tons since 8.652. The volume grew especially in the period between 2016 and 2017. This is evident from new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

In 2016 and 2017, the number of organic pig farms grew sharply, increasing the supply of biological pork in the Netherlands has increased. However, that has also put pressure on the price. The price for organic pork is usually about €2 more than the price for conventional meat. However, accurate figures on costs and yields in organic pig farming are not publicly available.

Market share
Compared to organic poultry meat and beef, organic pork is a much larger product segment. The volume of organic poultry meat grew from 525 tons of carcass weight in 2015 to 634 tons in 2018. Organic beef meat increased from 2.076 tons of carcass weight in 2015 to 2.410 tons of carcass weight.

However, compared to the total meat production in the Netherlands, the organic share remains only a fraction of the total: less than 1%. In 2018, the CBS statistics agency registered 1,54 million tons of pork carcase weight, 458.090 tons of beef and 1,038 million tons of poultry meat. 

The Netherlands is lagging behind
The agricultural sector in the Netherlands lags far behind compared to other European countries in terms of both acreage and retail turnover. This is evident from figures from the IFOAM EU Group. In 2017, approximately 3% of the Dutch acreage of grassland and arable land was cultivated organically. More than half (56%) is grassland and 0,4% of the total maize area is organic.

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