Organic Industry Quick Facts for 2020-2021

September 24, 2021 Samantha Mills

The Canada Organic Trade Association has just released the latest report on the trends of the organic agriculture industry in Canada (with an Ontario-specific report on the way which OCO has contributed to). The data shows that the efforts of organic farmers across Canada have produced amazing results. The full Market Report is available for purchase on COTA’s website, but here are some of the key insights for Ontario from the report:

Key Insights for Ontario

1. Canada’s organic market in general has expanded, with Canadians spending $8.138B on organic (up 14.9% since 2017).

Source: Canada Organic Trade Association. “2021 Organic Market Report with Tia Loftsgard – Organic Week 2021”. 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMbsysMJHc

2. Ontario has the largest market in packaged products at ($675M), although BC saw the largest market share (5%). Ontario sold twice as much volume as Quebec. The number one selling organic product in Ontario is organic milk, followed by broadleaf vegetables, baby food, coffee, eggs, and salad.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of organic dairy, Ontario’s best selling organic product, you can check out our new blog: The Impact of Organic Dairy on Reducing Synthetic Chemical Use: A Webinar Overview.

3. Ontario remains the largest consumer of organic snacks of all the provinces, consuming more volume than Quebec and BC combined. Snacks across Canada saw a 19% growth in sales, with $44M of total organic sales snacks, the most popular of which was chocolate, as well as fruit nuts and seeds. Both of these snacks saw a 29% growth.

4. The total number of organic food operators (producers, processors and other value chain members) grew in Ontario. In 2020, there were 1,415 Ontario organic food operators (5.2% growth since 2019). Quebec has the largest number of food operators in Canada (3,195) and has experienced the greatest growth in organic food operators in the country (11.9%), almost double that of Ontario.

5. Among the certified operators, only organic producers saw growth in Ontario, there are now 926 organic producers (5.2% growth).

6. Ontario’s other certified operators, organic processors and organic livestock producers, saw no growth over the past year, with current numbers standing at 491 organic processors and 295 organic livestock producers.

7. The world is developing a taste for Canadian organic products, last year saw an incredible increase in organic exports, with a 32% growth rate over 2019 but imports also increased by 5.5%. Although, as a disclaimer, only 16 export codes were tracked while 65 import codes were tracked, hence why the import numbers are much higher. However, there is still a clear opportunity for Ontario farmers to meet both the local and international demand for organic products.

The organic sector has certainly seen some amazing accomplishments in the wake of the many obstacles that the past year has presented. This report shows that the demand for organic both on the domestic and international stage is steadily increasing. There is a significant economic benefit for Ontario to continue to support conventional farmers’ transition to organic.

OCO has partnered with Canada Organic Trade Association to provide an Ontario specific 2020 Market Report as well. Stay tuned for its release.