We send our sincere Christmas and New Year’s greetings from the team of the Swiss-Ukrainian Programme “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP)!
Despite the challenges of the third year of full-scale war, the Ukrainian organic sector is showing resilience and continues to look for new opportunities for development. Organic producers are confidently restoring production and sales of higher value added products on the domestic market, while finding new destinations for export.
We are very grateful to the organic sector stakeholders who worked together to make this happen. The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office”, as well as international technical assistance projects and programmes have all contributed to a number of significant events for the organic sector to happen during the year. It is encouraging to see that the Ukrainian organic market is gradually recovering and moving forward.
Since 2019, the QFTP programme, supported by Switzerland, has been working to promote the development of sustainable trade with higher value added organic products with the aim of strengthening the competitiveness and capacity development of public authorities, service providers and other stakeholders of the Ukrainian organic sector.
To summarise this year’s results, you are welcome to get acquainted with the ratings of Ukrainian organic brands in 2024. These ratings have been published by the BrandStory media platform together with the Organic Standard certification body for the fourth year in a row:
- TOP 10 Most Recognisable Organic Brands in Ukraine
- TOP 3 Organic Grocery Producers in Ukraine
- TOP 3 Ukrainian Organic Fresh Brands
- TOP Organic Dairy Producers in Ukraine
- TOP 5 Ukrainian Exporters of Organic Value Added Products
The Ukrainian organic market offers high quality and tasty products with higher added value which also have significant potential for international markets. Some of these products are already successfully presented in retail chains abroad.
Let’s take a look back at the significant events in organic sector of Ukraine which have taken place in 2024.
This year, one of the mandatory requirements of Ukraine’s organic legislation, which was fully implemented in 2023, came into force. Therefore, labelling with the state logo for organic products became mandatory for all operators on the domestic market from 1 July 2024. As a result, there are more organic products from Ukrainian producers labelled with the state logo for organic products. As of the end of December 2024, the State register of operators producing organic products under legal requirements in the field of organic production, circulation and labelling of organic products includes 259 operators, which is 146 more than in the same period last year.
The state registers can be found on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Ministry) in the Organic Production section, which is available in Ukrainian and English. We also encourage you to get acquainted with the List of Foreign Certification Bodies maintained by the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
On the initiative of the Ministry, based on the data from the Organic Standard certification body, the Organic Map of Ukraine was developed. It shows the number of operators and the area of agricultural land certified according to the requirements of Ukrainian legislation in the field of organic production, circulation and labelling of organic products. As of 31 December 2023, the total area of agricultural land under organic production in accordance with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation was 77,463 hectares, including 71,728 hectares of organic agricultural land. The total number of certified organic market operators was 152, including 134 agricultural producers.
Traditionally, the Organic Map of Ukraine was updated in accordance with the operational monitoring data collected by the Ministry from foreign certification bodies that certified organic production and circulation of organic products in Ukraine in accordance with the EU and/or US organic regulations. As of the end of 2023, there were 481 organic operators in Ukraine, including 383 agricultural producers; the total area of organic agricultural land (with organic status and in transition) was 471,176 hectares (including 390,923 hectares with organic status).
The Organic Initiative public association conducted a gender study of the organic sector in Ukraine in December 2023 – January 2024 to highlight the importance of both women and men in the organic sector, to examine the changes taking place, in particular in connection with the full-scale war, as well as the challenges for the industry and possible ways to overcome them. The results of the study were presented at the international conference “At the Frontline – Women of Ukraine are Changing the World” held on 14 February during the largest organic trade fair BIOFACH 2024 and showed that 27% of organic farms in Ukraine are run by women.
In April-May, the Organic Initiative conducted the survey of Ukrainian consumers’ opinions on “Awareness and Perception of Organic Products in Ukraine”. Residents of the 5 largest cities of Ukraine participated in the survey: Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv. This was the second time such a study was conducted, the previous one was conducted by the association in November 2020 (available in Ukrainian only).
In May-June, the Organic Fest festival of organic products was held. The event was organised and hosted by the national supermarket chain Silpo in cooperation with the Organic Initiative. Within the framework of the Organic Fest, 4 two-day organic fairs were organised in Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa, which were supported by a communication campaign to raise awareness of the state logo for organic products and promote organic products among consumers.
On 8-9 June, was successfully held for the second time. More than 50 producers from across the country, including Lviv, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Odesa, Ternopil and other regions participated in the fair. Among them, 16 producers presented their organic products: groats, honey, herbal teas, spices, vegetables, berries, meat products, dairy products, etc. The organisers of the event, Lviv Regional Military (State) Administration, Ecoterra Lviv city non-governmental organisation, ProCheese cheese connoisseur community from Ardis Group, under the patronage of the Ministry, worked together to create an effective platform for sales, raise awareness of organic products among the fair visitors and facilitate direct contact between producers and their customers.
The State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office” (hereinafter – the EEPO) continues to actively promote the export of organic products, contribute to the development of the potential of Ukrainian organic exporters and form a positive image of Ukraine as a reliable supplier of quality organic products abroad. Thus, from 13 to 16 February, the 11th National Pavilion of Ukraine at BIOFACH 2024 was organised by the EEPO, together with its partners and under the patronage of the Ministry, in Nuremberg, Germany. This year, 38 organic companies represented Ukraine at the trade fair, 14 of them within the National Pavilion of Ukraine
(Photo: Official opening of the National Pavilion of Ukraine at BIOFACH 2024. Source: EEPO)
On 19-23 October, the Ukrainian Food Association together with the EEPO and partners organised the first National Stand of Ukraine at the international exhibition SIAL PARIS 2024 in Paris, France. The Ukrainian stand brought together 27 exporters, including 6 exporters of organic products. The organic products on display included groats, honey, flour, flakes, vegetables, fruit and vegetable preserves, berries, fruit juices, etc.
From 18 to 20 November, Ukrainian companies were represented at the Middle East Organic & Natural Products Expo, the largest exhibition of organic products in the Middle East, which took place in Dubai, UAE, as part of the National Stand of Ukraine, organised by the EEPO with the support of its partners.
On 23 September, Ukraine celebrated the Organic Day for the third time together with the EU at the Organic Day in Ukraine conference. The event, organised by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the Organic Initiative and partners, brought together more than 250 participants from Ukraine and other countries to discuss current challenges and opportunities for the development of the organic market in times of war, as well as to raise awareness of organic products and labelling.
Ukraine remains one of the top 5 largest exporters of organic products to the European Union for the sixth consecutive year.
According to the latest European Commission’s report 2023 – EU imports of organic agri-food products, Ukraine ranked 5th out of 125 countries in terms of organic exports to the EU.
At the end of October, the 4th phase of the Organic Sector Grant Programme with the support of Switzerland was launched. The grant programme is aimed at increasing sales of Ukrainian organic products on the domestic market, expanding the organic product range and establishing new supply chains. Under the grant programme, 33 companies from 13 regions of Ukraine received support totalling about 160,000 Swiss francs.
Throughout the year, the Green Agro Solutions NGO held the Organic Discussion Club – a series of webinars aimed at raising awareness of the prospects and specifics of growing organic crops for farmers, agronomists, and agribusiness owners interested in improving the efficiency of their farms.
Organic agriculture remains one of the important priorities of Ukraine’s agricultural policy and European integration process. In November, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Strategy for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas in Ukraine until 2030 (in Ukrainian), which states that the development of organic production is one of the priority areas of the medium-term “green transformation“ of agriculture and organic production can play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as biodiversity conservation.
The digitalisation of Ukraine’s organic sector continues to progress. Thus, this year online training platform Organic School by Organic Standard was launched to increase the level of knowledge and competence of all Ukrainian organic sector stakeholders regarding the Organic Law of Ukraine and the EU Organic Regulation, and to provide an opportunity to test the acquired knowledge and obtain a certificate. The platform contains training materials of the Organic Module: Organic Legislation of Ukraine and EU Organic Regulation (in Ukrainian).
The EEPO, together with Organic Standard, launched a dashboard on the export of Ukrainian organic products (in Ukrainian). The dashboard contains the data for 2018-2023 by categories of organic products that were exported, allowing its users to get acquainted with the volume of exports and countries that import certified organic products from Ukraine.
This year, a range of information materials on organic were developed and distributed, including:
- Infographic based on the results of the Organic Market Study of Ukraine 2023, domestic market:
- Infographic based on the results of the Organic Market Study of Ukraine 2023, exports:
- Organic export from Ukraine (2023, overview)
- Sales of organic products in 2016-2023: export market
- Export of organic products from Ukraine to EU (2023, countries)
- Export of Ukrainian organic products: Top 10 exported products (world, 2023)
- Export of Ukrainian organic products: Top 10 exported products (EU, 2023)
- Export of organic products from Ukraine, world (2023, countries)
- Prepared:
- Updated:
- Translated into Ukrainian:
- Created and updated articles on Wikipedia:
In 2024 two more Swiss-funded programmes have been launched to support the organic sector of Ukraine:
The Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO), implemented by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (Swisscontact), and the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Organic Sector (WEOS) project, implemented by the Information Center “Green Dossier” in partnership with the Organic Initiative.
We encourage you to mark the dates in your calendars for the key events scheduled to take place in 2025:
- 11-14 February – National Pavilion of Ukraine at the international trade fair for organic products BIOFACH (Nuremberg, Germany);
- 17-21 February – National Stand of Ukraine at the international exhibition GULFOOD (Dubai, UAE);
- May/June – Lviv Taste Fair (Lviv, Ukraine);
- 4-8 October – National Pavilion of Ukraine at the international trade fair ANUGA (Cologne, Germany).
A selection of references on the organic market can be found in Media and PR Monitoring 2024.
The above-mentioned events were organised and materials were developed/translated and distributed by Ukrainian organic sector stakeholders, representatives of state authorities with the support of Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian Programme “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP), implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland), and other international development partners.
The list of activities and materials of the Ukrainian organic sector is not exhaustive.
The Ukrainian version of this letter is available via the link on the OrganicInfo.ua website.
We encourage you to share the above-mentioned achievements of Ukraine’s organic sector with your colleagues and partners.
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