By DITA DE BONI
On the odd occasion, over a glass of pesticide-free feijoa wine, organics industry figures in New Zealand like to wheel out a famous quote by the German philosopher Schopenhauer.
The quote? "All truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally it is accepted as self-evident."
The organics industry has started to attract naysayers - albeit not violent ones - creating cautious optimism in the industry. Instead of being scoffed at for being the preserve of long-haired granola-munchers, Kiwi critics are now more likely to be backing genetic engineering - a scientific system that could eliminate pesticides from agricultural production but would virtually wipe out any hope of marketing Aotearoa as an organics sanctuary.
If there is any ambivalence about GE food on the part of New Zealand consumers, however, it is not shared in Europe, where consumers have voted with their wallets. The international market for certified organic produce is a lucrative business in which New Zealand agriculture, at present, has a serious chance to contend, organic producers say.
A quick glance at the figures shows the value of organic exports from New Zealand in the 1999-2000 year was more than $60 million, a 77 per cent increase on the year before.
Of that, exports to Europe totalled $28.7 million and are expected to grow to more than $100 million to that market alone in the next five years.
Internationally, organics as a category is growing even faster, led almost entirely by Europe and Britain, where the organic market has grown 25 per cent each year for the past 10 years. Areas under organic cultivation in Europe increased by 900,000ha between 1998 and 1999-2000 to reach more than 3.5 million hectares, while the number of organic farms in the European Union has doubled to 105,657 since 1992.
Many New Zealanders believe the recent food scares in Europe, including BSE, salmonella, dioxin scares and even "swine fever" will prove a big boon to New Zealand's fledgling organics industry - and indeed all primary producers.
But the industry warns that while the time is ripe, it is not as simple as all that. New Zealand is steadily facing increased competition in the organics marketplace, both from within Europe and regions such as South America, which have seized a space in the international market.
And overseas Governments have been pushed by strong antipathy towards the spectre of genetically engineered foods to ride the organics tidal wave.
The Chilean and Argentine Governments have started subsidising land for organic farming. In Britain, the Blair Government is paying farmers to convert to organics, while Danish Government policy has stipulated that 10 per cent of all farming in that country should be organic by 2005.
By 2010, abetted by European Union Governments, it is thought around one-third of the continent's farmland will have gone back to basics.
By comparison, New Zealand is dragging the chain. It has two organic farmers in Parliament but the Government's help is still largely restricted to some funding from Trade New Zealand for organics trade fairs, and a recent initiative, through Industry New Zealand, to provide enterprise awards to companies working toward organic certification.
Industry New Zealand spokeswoman Emily Turner says the body is analysing the sector and "this analysis will guide Industry NZ in its actions to support the organics industry."
"[We] recognise organics as a critical industry for the long-term sustainability of our environment. It also meets changing customer needs and assists rural New Zealand to continue to be a strong sector in the New Zealand economy.
"We understand that organics is also of interest to Maori, and Industry NZ would be keen to work with Maori in this area."
But the sector is loath to miss marketing opportunities. Trade New Zealand assisted a group of organics exporters at the world's largest organics trade fair - Bio Fach in Nuremberg, Germany, last month - which it has done for around five years.
This year the producers received the same amount of assistance but kicked in a bit more themselves to have their biggest presence yet.
Kate White of Waitaki Apiaries - the largest player in our $2 million organic honey export market - and a member of the Organic Products Exporters Group (OPEG) says attending Bio Fach was highly useful.
She noticed a huge interest in New Zealand's organic produce, she said, but the perception of the country's regular produce was less than squeaky clean.
"New Zealand has a very bad reputation as far as pesticides and herbicides go. So it is good for us to show up overseas and prove we can be clean and green. And also, there was no Australian presence so we looked much more proactive for attending."
The Bio Fach fair confirmed for those attending that the outside world is keenly interested in organics, even if that belief is often derided by critics here.
Around 25,000 visitors visited the fair with 1725 exhibitors, up around 20 per cent on last year.
The Trade New Zealand contingent say they picked up some business - they won't be specific - and feel the timing was serendipitous. They arrived as Europe groaned under the weight of the foot and mouth outbreak.
"It was great, but we'd really like to see more diversity," says Ms White. "There are huge marketing opportunities for small companies to come in and fill niches, but they are not stepping out and taking the risk."
Another source questioned the non-attendance of organisations such as the meat and dairy boards, especially at such a critical time for marketing.
Meat New Zealand chief executive Neil Taylor told the Business Herald the industry body was keeping a watching brief but put its money into other, more generic produce fairs.
"Several of our [members] produce organic meats but the volumes are still very small. We have definitely noticed an increase in interest in New Zealand [beef and lamb] due to what is happening in Europe at present but not specifically in organics."
The Dairy Board did not respond to questions, but the organisation did give its official blessing last year by encouraging some farmers to satisfy a $200 million demand for organic milk.
Not all industry bodies are so reticent. Around 5 per cent of the 60 million trays of kiwifruit exported by Zespri International each year are certified organic, which yields $22 million for the company and enhances its reputation, says product development manager Stuart Abbott.
"One hurdle, a kind of mental barrier, that larger companies feel they face by getting into organics is that they wonder what it says to the market about the other 99 per cent or so of its product.
"But we've found that even if [international buyers] don't always buy the organic fruit, they appreciate having the option and it enhances our overall profile."
Zespri, as a member of OPEG, was one of the companies that attended Bio Fach in Nuremberg. Mr Abbott says the disease outbreaks have led European consumers to see organic food as the closest thing to a guarantee of safety, a consumer demand that New Zealand will "surely have to take seriously" if it wants to exploit domestic markets.
"We could not be 100 per cent organic - that is uncommercial and unrealistic. But the opportunities are there, and real."
From Mr Abbott's point of view, two things may arrest the development of organic exports. One is a lack of expertise. "We have a desperate need as a global industry to understand more about soil science.
"While conventional farming looks at how best to feed animals or plants, organics looks at how to feed soil and it is disturbing how little expertise is out there. That was even evident at Bio Fach."
The second hitch, he says, is that European supermarkets are swallowing the premium paid to organic producers to "train consumers that they should not pay more for organics."
"We are starting to see price pressure, and suspect somewhere down the track, producers of volume may be pressured to drop their premiums by supermarkets.
"But that is in the future - at the moment the potential for organic exports is substantial, and only just emerging."
Europeans show way to an organic future
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