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Eggs are an important part of the Germans' eating habits.

According to statistics, every German citizen plastered an average of 239 pieces in the past year, be it as breakfast or fried eggs or in processed form in cakes, pasta or mayonnaise.

More and more often, the eggs consumed come from organic farming.

This is shown by current figures from the Federal Statistical Office.

In 2020, the amount of organic eggs produced in Germany increased by a good eight percent compared to the previous year to just under 1.6 billion pieces.

According to the authority, a trend that has been going on for years is intensifying.

The discounter Aldi Süd reports that the 20 percent mark has been reached for organic products in its own shell egg range.

Source: WORLD infographic

Organic is thus finally moving away from its former niche existence.

Eggs are the product with the highest organic share of total sales in Germany, as the "Industry Report 2021 Ecological Food Industry" by BÖLW, the leading association of producers, processors and retailers of organic food, shows.

In the case of flour, drinking milk and oil, organic now also has a double-digit market share.

Vegetables and yogurt are not far from it either.

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The Corona year 2020 has a large part in this.

The BÖLW reports a rapid development with a historical increase in sales and turnover: According to the association, the market has grown by an impressive 22 percent to almost 15 billion euros.

This means that the share of organic products in total food sales climbs to 6.4 percent.

Source: WORLD infographic

Almost two thirds of the business is accounted for by supermarkets and discounters, as the BÖLW figures show.

This is followed by the so-called natural food trade.

Farm shops and organic sellers at weekly markets were also formally overrun, and the providers of subscription boxes even had to increase their capacities significantly in the lockdown phases in order to be able to meet demand at all.

The fact that there was still enough goods is not only due to imports.

In 2020, the surge in demand was also offset by a surge in domestic production, after more than 8,000 farms had converted their production over the past five years.

According to BÖLW, there are now 35,413 organic farms in Germany, which manage a total of almost 1.7 million hectares organically.

Source: WORLD infographic

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As the reason for the organic boom, agricultural experts have identified a change in sustainability thinking among consumers, above all due to climate change.

At the same time, the corona pandemic led to changes in shopping and eating behavior.

Neither will change anytime soon, believes Klaus-Dieter Koch, the founder of the Brandtrust brand consultancy.

“There are more and more generations in household responsibility who include issues such as climate and animal welfare in their decisions,” says Koch.

At the same time, traditional retailers discovered the topic of “organic” as a differentiating feature and expanded their range accordingly - but this only works because the producers have become more professional and the availability of goods has increased enormously.

Organic meanwhile stands for enjoyment and quality and no longer for ideological discussions.