The world's leading trade fair for organic food BIOFACH ended recently in the German city of Nuremberg. Bulgaria took part in the food fair for the first time. Chairperson of Bulgarian Organic Products Association Albena Simeonova told Radio Bulgaria details about the country's participation at this year's food fair:

“The Bulgarian Organic Products Association united the efforts of the Bulgarian plant-growers, stock-breeders, bee-keepers, manufacturers, tradesmen and consultants engaged in organic manufacture. Bulgaria had its own stand at the fair where 41 Bulgarian companies producing organic food presented their produce. We offered fresh, processed and dried vegetables and fruit, herbs, honey, wine, nuts and processed grain products such as flour, ground-baked sesame seed, etc.”

Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Austria are Europe's biggest importers of Bulgarian organic food. Currently, the frozen wild fruits are the best-selling products in Europe. The demand of organic food is expected to rise by 10% per year and by 2020 the market of organic food is likely to exceed USD 60 billion.

“The Bulgarian Organic Products Association was established six years ago when there were only twenty five organic farmers in Bulgaria. Now the number of organic farmers in this country exceeds 4,000, which means that the demand of organic products has increased a lot and the quality of the food has also improved significantly. This is so, because we are now united under a separate measure - Organic Agriculture, whereas in the past we were placed under the Agroecology Measure. Now, organic stock-breeders also receive financial support. We managed to secure additional points during the evaluations of the projects regarding measures 4.1 and 4.2, i.e. measures regarding investments and processing of agricultural produce. Thus, the number of people engaged in organic farming increases. We received support of the European Union thanks to a project developed under the Promotional Programme. Europe pays big attention to the way organic produce is presented, offered and promoted. We received support from the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food under the State Aid Programme. Unification is our most successful strategy. Bulgaria would position better amidst the foreign countries producing organic food, if more local farmers unite and attend the events organized by the Bulgarian Organic Products Association.”

The areas planted with organic produce in Bulgaria increase with nearly 9% each year. Bulgaria places fourth in the world and first in Europe in terms of export of herbs. The world demand of organic wheat is expected to grow with 30% in 2016 and Bulgaria's grain producers can benefit from these circumstances. Albena Simeonova called on the consumers to choose Bulgarian organic food, because it is delicious, healthy, environmentally-friendly and last, but not least, it creates more jobs.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov