In recent years, a number of business celebrities have ventured into agriculture. Former chairman of the Hongta Group, Chu Shijian, grew “inspirational oranges”; Legend Holdings chairman Liu Chuanzhi began selling “conscience fruit”; JD.com CEO Liu Qiangdong started selling self-grown organic rice; and Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin also secured 5,700 mu of land in Yanqing, Beijing, to build an organic agricultural park... Among these agricultural products, “organic” has become a major selling point.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Organic agriculture in our country started in the 1980s. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and health among the people, the concept of organic food has become widespread. Since 2000, the organic food industry has achieved rapid development. In recent years, food safety incidents that occur from time to time have made “organic food”, which boasts a pollution-free, contamination-free and purely natural production process, a darling of the market.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the global organic food market is currently growing at a rate of 20% to 30%.At present, China’s range of organic and in-conversion organic food products (in-conversion organic food refers to products produced during the period from the start of organic management to the attainment of organic certification – Editor’s note) comprises approximately 50 major categories and 400 to 500 varieties.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
According to data from industry research and consulting organisation CICConsulting, the global market sales of organic products in 2012 exceeded 60 billion US dollars, concentrated mainly in Europe and North America. Developed countries import nearly 60% of their organic food deficit from developing countries, with Argentina accounting for 70% of the organic food exported to developed countries. At present, the consumption value of organic food in China is growing at an annual rate of 30% to 50%, with year-round shortages reaching 30%.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Although there is a widespread demand for green and healthy food, the rapid popularisation of organic food is hindered by limitations in purchasing power, logistics systems and sales channels. Calculations by a journalist from the *Southern Metropolis Daily* revealed that eating purely organic food would cost over 1,800 yuan a month on groceries alone. Industry insiders state that organic food in China's market currently comes mostly from retail channels such as Carrefour, Sam's Club and Walmart. The cost of organic food is too high, and when combined with expenses in production, management, logistics and warehousing, the distribution costs of organic food are massively increased.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
According to the Market Status Analysis of China's Organic Food Industry published by the China Industry Information Network, the regions currently showing a high level of interest in organic food in China are mainly first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Domestic consumers still do not have a very clear understanding of the concept of organic food, and green food, pollution-free food and organic food are often lumped together. Given the high prices, many consumers are left confused as to whether organic food is merely a marketing gimmick or genuinely superior to other grades of food.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Building on the foundation of green food and pollution-free food, organic food also requires the production, processing and transportation processes to be natural. Qin Haiyuan, director of the Food Testing Teaching and Research Section at Guangxi Agricultural Vocational University, points out that organic agriculture emphasises harmony between humans and nature, attaches importance to environmental protection and ecological balance, and stresses sustainable development.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Due to high production costs and certification standards, the actual output of organic food is not particularly large. A report by China News Service in December 2011 pointed out that, as of September 2011, China had issued no more than 6,400 organic product certifications, with certified organic farming covering 660,000 hectares and wild-harvested areas spanning 890,000 hectares.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
The shortfall in supply of organic food has given rise to a grey industry profit chain, resulting in frequent issues within the organic food sector such as confusing price labelling and lax certification. On the eve of the 2013 Spring Festival, Kweichow Moutai's core brewing ingredients were exposed as “fake organic”; at the end of 2011, organic vegetables sold at high prices in major supermarkets in Jinan, Shandong, were exposed as having involved the use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers during production. During the early stages of the organic food industry's development, similar phenomena led to consumer distrust in organic food, damaged the reputation of the entire organic food industry, and constrained the expansion of the organic food market.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
According to statistics from the US Organic Trade Association, in 2011 sales of organic food in the US accounted for 4.2% of total food sales, with seven in ten Americans having consumed organic food.However, the ‘2010–2015 Investment Analysis and Forecast Report on the Chinese Organic Food Market’, published by China Investment Consulting, indicates that organic food is estimated to account for less than 1% of the total food market share in China.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Currently, organic food certification standards in Europe and America are generally stricter than those in China. Successive food safety issues and the green trade barriers encountered by Chinese food exports have prompted the state to continuously strengthen the regulation of organic food certification activities. As early as 2004, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued the Measures for the Administration of Organic Product Certification. In April 2014, the revised Measures will be officially implemented.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
In 2011, the State Certification and Accreditation Administration revised the ‘Implementation Rules for the Certification of Organic Products’ and drew up the ‘Catalogue of Organic Products for Certification’.The new regulations require that, when all organic food products are placed on the market, the smallest individual unit of packaging must bear an organic traceability code in addition to the organic certification label and the name of the certifying body. At the same time, the number of organic product certification bodies in China was reduced from 36 to 23, thereby ensuring the quality of product testing.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
In the last two years, the rise of agricultural e-commerce has injected fresh vitality into the organic food industry once again. Zhou Siran, a food industry researcher at China Investment Consulting, believes that JD.com's sale of self-grown organic rice means that organic food has moved beyond previous terminal sales channels such as organic retail stores and high-end grocery supermarkets. This broadens sales channels and is conducive to the future promotion and development of organic food.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
He pointed out that for organic food to achieve sustained, healthy and rapid development, firstly, certification bodies must strengthen the validity of certification and enhance regulatory oversight of certified enterprises; secondly, consumers should improve their understanding of organic food, enhance their own knowledge systems, and actively report and expose regulatory violations; thirdly, the media and the power of public opinion should strengthen supervision of the organic food industry, and in addition to promoting its benefits, more importantly, teach consumers how to choose compliantly certified food; fourthly, the state should vigorously support organic food enterprises, cultivate nationally renowned brands, and play an exemplary and leading role.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/
Adapted from China Youth Daily 文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11450/