Why go organic for the food industry?
In recent years, there has been a societal trend towards a healthier, more balanced diet, and this has led to a boom in production in the food industry.
The benefits of going organic for your company
Adopting an organic approach enables brands to meet growing consumer demand for healthy, sustainable products and develop an economic advantage. Let's take a look at the benefits of organic production.
Organic: an economic and competitive advantage
While there has been a general upward trend in organic consumption in recent years, it is important to note that growth has slowed in 2022 and 2023 due to high product prices.
According to Agence BIO, 94% of French people surveyed in 2023 believe that organic food is often more expensive (compared to 92% in 2022). And with good reason: food companies are taking advantage of this trend to sell at higher margins. In short, organic food is a hot market for consumers and retailers alike.
Strengthening brand image and corporate social responsibility
For some agri-food companies, organic is a way of reinforcing this image and making an impression on customers. Indeed, consumers tend to trust organic brands more, perceiving them as more natural, authentic and transparent.
And for the food industry, it's a godsend, even if they are sometimes criticized for not being sincere in their CSR commitments or actions.
Building loyalty among health-conscious consumers
For the agri-food sector, organic food builds customer loyalty. Customers are looking for quality, healthy, transparent food. But how can the food industry meet these expectations?
In many ways: by improving farming practices, expanding food ranges, setting up control systems or developing innovative distribution models.
But with so much demand for organic products, will the food industry have to go further? Although there is currently no official "more natural" certification, some initiatives are proposing labels that go beyond the requirements of the AB (Agriculture Logique) label.
It remains to be seen whether, in the future, the organic food industry will produce even more natural products.
Functioning of an organic-oriented agri-food organization
An organic agri-food organization must use certified organic raw materials combined with sustainable practices. Marketing, too, must respect organic safety measures and certification, ensuring transparency, credibility, sustainability and quality for consumers.
Sourcing certified organic raw materials
In 2022, there were over 60,000 farms engaged in organic farming, representing around 14.2% of French farms, according to the FrenchChambers of Agriculture. Organic supply chains in the agri-food sector are highly regulated, and must meet complex logistical requirements: selection of a certified supplier, production in accordance with regulations, and secure sourcing to counter any infection.
For the food industry, these stages are equally important, as they have a direct impact on food quality, and can therefore render a product incompatible with certification.
These complex logistics are more expensive to implement than for conventional produce. Agricultural inputs are more expensive, the costs of obtaining and maintaining organic are higher, and transport is more expensive too. All these factors make organic food more expensive for the food industry.
Distribution and marketing of organic products
First of all, food storage and handling must be appropriate (stored separately from non-organic products in clean, controlled areas). A retailer must implement effective traceability systems to follow each batch of organic food from arrival to sale.
It is his duty to train staff on the specific standards and procedures to be followed for handling. He must also carry out regular quality controls to verify compliance with standards and ensure quality.
The retailer must also be able to put in place clear policies for managing returns, in order to maintain their integrity and security. This can be achieved by using IT systems to automate traceability and inventory management processes.
Plant safety and global health risks
Ensuring plant security is crucial to minimizing overall health risks, and this involves strict protocols such as visitor bans or visitor restrictions. Find out which ones and how plants can implement them.
Safety standards specific to organic food
First of all, the Agence Bio supervises and coordinates certification activities in France. And organic certification is awarded according to certain criteria: traceability, production standards (use of organic seeds and plants, exclusion of GMOs, etc.), prohibition of synthetic foods, hygiene (cleaning, disinfection, microbiological control, allergens, visitor control) and, last but not least, packaging and labelling (to avoid contamination).
Managing health risks in organic plants
In order to produce organically, agri-food companies need to make their plants safe, especially from visitors. The first step is to identify visitors and prevent the risks they may pose. In fact, for organic food production, visitors must not be allowed in high-risk areas.
Indeed, visitors can cause serious crises if they are ill-prepared. In France, several protocols are possible in the event of contamination (PMS, HACCP), and an alert and surveillance network is available to coordinate actions in the event of a health crisis.
To prevent these crises from happening in the food industry, visitors to organic products must also avoid wearing jewelry and wash their hands.
Visitors should also be pre-registered. They should wear clothing and equipment appropriate to the site. Visitors should have restricted access to the plant.
Finally, in the organic food industry, visitors are required not to touch organic food. Visitors must also declare any symptoms of illness beforehand.
How to secure plant entrances to reduce public health risks
To ensure effective visitor control and optimum plant safety, we offer Hamilton Visitor SRR software. This software can protect your entire food and beverage plant with visitor validation workflows, a security interface, and Security Investigation Management!
With Hamilton Visitor SRR, you can find out in real time who is present in your factories, and issue access credentials according to your wishes. Or optimize security at reception by accessing a list of prohibited or restricted persons. It protects your plant and your consumers, for quality foodstuffs! Take the test!