Trend Watch: Germany and EU |
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| Feb, 2008 |
Recent European Commission PDO, PGI Findings
Parmesan only from Italy
Only the hard, crumbly cheese made near the Italian city of Parma can be called Parmesan, the European court of justice ruled today, dealing a blow to German producers.
Six agricultural product names registered
The European Commission has added six names of agricultural products and foodstuffs to the Register of Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI): "Pane di Matera" (bread – Italy - PGI) and "Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino" (fish – Italy - PDO) and four vegetables from the Reichenau Island in Germany (all four as PGI): "Salate von der Insel Reichenau", "Gurken von der Insel Reichenau", "Feldsalat von der Insel Reichenau" and "Tomaten von der Insel Reichenau". These six names are added to the list of about 800 product names already protected under the legislation on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin and traditional speciality
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| Feb, 2008 |
German exports to Canada grew double digit in 2007
For the second consecutive year, food and agricultural exports from Germany to Canada grew at a double digit rate, rising 11% in 2007 (January to November) to 179 million Euros. This comes on top of 10.6% growth in 2006. Strong consumer demand and widening distribution in Canada boosted exports of German chocolates (+43%), beers (+30%) cookies and breads (+ 14%) and candies (+9%). Demand for milk-derived casein, which is used in industrial glues, exceeded 34 million Euros, growing 3%. Canada remains a very important destination for German food manufacturers, as younger Canadian consumers with German heritage re-discover modern day Germany.
According to Canadian import statistics, German food imports into Canada grew 9.2% to $Cdn 278 million in 2006 (year-on-year comparisons for 2007 are not available), which makes Germany the 5th largest European food exporter to Canada, after France, Italy, the UK and Netherlands.
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| Feb, 2008 |
German exports to the USA kept growing despite falling Dollar
Despite the Dollar value falling 12% in 2007, imports from Germany into the US grew a robust 9.4% in 2007 (January – November), primarily snack foods, including chocolates and cookies (+16.5%), wines and beers (+7.6%), processed vegetables like sauerkraut and pickles (+7%) and other consumer-oriented products. The total import value of German food, beverage and agricultural products was nearly $1.1 billion in 2006 and, at current growth rates, would be nearly $1.2 billion in 2007.
According to German statistics, food, beverage and agricultural exports exceeded the 1 billion Euro mark for the first time in 2006 and are poised to grow to 1.1 billion Euros in 2007. Germany is the 4th largest European exporter to the US, behind Italy, the Netherlands, and France. Agri-Food exports from the United States exceeded $1.0 billion in 2006 and grew a whopping 45% from January to November 2007, reflecting the increasing worldwide demand for agricultural raw materials.
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| Jan, 2008 |
Rising food prices concern German consumers, help farmers.
As in the rest of the world, food prices in Germany have increased dramatically over the past 6 months. The biggest price shocks: The liter of milk went from 55 cents (equal to 2.09 Euros or roughly $3.00 per gallon at today's exchange rates) to 75 cents, an increase of nearly 40%.
Other examples include butter (250g), rising from 75 cents to 1.19 Euro (+61%), cucumbers from 25 cents to 49 cents (+96%), organic salad from 88 cents to 1.19 Euro (35%) and organic zucchini from 1.99 to 2.49 Euros per kilo (+25%). Germans, not used to high food prices for more than a decade, protested so loud that the minister of food, agriculture and consumer protection demanded an inquiry by the Federal cartel office into price gauging by manufacturers or retailers.
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| Jan, 2008 |
The latest German fitness food – tasty pork sausage with less than 3% fat
Pork Sausages are widely regarded as indulgent fillers not as fitness foods - until now. The Fraunhofer Institute (Germany's leading institute for basic research and development) in cooperation with Bavarian master butcher Josef Pointner developed "Nofatty, " a pork based sausage in 2007 which contains less than 3% of fat but tastes like the regular varieties (which on average contain 25 – 40% of fat, like salamis, bologna, ham sausages etc.).
The secret: lean meat cuts like Schnitzel combined with a new patented method of production. "The chopping process in the cutter releases the meat proteins actin and myosin. Our task was to release more proteins than in conventional sausage-making, and to influence their properties to make them bind more water. This makes it possible to reduce the proportion of fat," says Dr. Peter Eisner of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV. The key in the production process is to keep the temperature of the blades in the meat cutter at a low temperature, which involves constant monitoring and cooling techniques.
While there are some low fat sausages with 5-10% fat content on the market, they are either regarded by consumers as too dry and bland or are poultry-based with a completely different taste and texture. In contrast, "Nofatty" tastes like the "real thing".
The team of scientists and master butcher worked three years on the development of "Nofatty" and won the coveted Fraunhofer prize for human-centered technology in 2007. Preparations for a national launch are on the way.
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| Jan, 2008 |
German purity law also exists for sausage making
As the stereotype goes, German food culture is based on sausages and beers. There is a kernel of truth to that: making these food staples have been refined by century –old craftsmanship which even is encoded in law. The purity law for beer (only use barley malt, hops, yeast and water) was first established in Bavaria in 1516 and became national law in the 1871.
Now, a similar Renaissance food law document has been uncovered in the Weimar library archives for the production of the famous Thuringia sausage. This document dates back to 1432 and prescribes that only pure fresh pork to be used to make Thuringia fried sausages. The Sausage Purity Law can be seen at the German Fried Sausage Museum in Holzhausen, Germany (Thuringia, between Erfurt and Gotha).
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| Jan, 2008 |
The Berlin " Green Week" is world's largest food and agricultural show
The world's largest consumer agriculture and food show
It was in 1926, at the time of the Weimar Republic, when an employee of the Berlin tourism office suggested to create a major showcase for Germany's agricultural, horticultural, food and beverage industries, coinciding with the annual meetings of the major farmer's associations.
So, the first "Grüne Woche" (Green Week) was established, on 70,000 square feet at the Berlin exhibition center, attracting over 50,000 consumers, retailers, and tourists. Visitors could watch, touch, smell or taste everything related to German foods, from live farm animals to farm equipment, to fresh foods and cooking demonstrations. Thousands of small vendors prepared and sold local and regional specialties for immediate consumption.
Today, the "Grüne Woche" is the world's largest food and agricultural show: massive exhibits stretch over 115 Million square feet (26 exhibition halls) and lure 400,000 visitors from 75 countries to the Berlin exhibition centers. The fair takes place from January 18 – 26, 2008. Some of the key attractions this year include: exhibitions on organic farming, quality assurance, and renewable energies, the CMA-organized "Culinary Hall" with TV cooking demonstrations shows and tasting stations for dairz products, a 1000+ feet bed of ice with over 60 different species of edible fish and shellfish, and a real hands-on working farm. In addition, the ministers and secretaries of agriculture from over 40 nations will meet in Berlin to discuss global trends and challenges in agriculture, food supply and nutrition.
If this is not enough, the WELLNESS PLUS trade fair at the same exhibition center features over 100 companies offering products and services for wellness and fitness, from nutritional supplements, to travels, beauty and spa centers and more.
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| Jan, 2008 |
Sausage consumption in Germany
Germans eat about 1.5 million metric tons of sausages and meat products every year Germany's master butchers produce over 1,500 different varieties of sausages, hams and cold cuts. Most varieties belong to the "scalded sausage" type (Brühwurst),, including the famous Wiener (formerly called Frankfurter), Fleischwurst (Bologna) , Bierschinken, Leberkäse, Frankfurters) etc.
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| Jan, 2008 |
German Organic Foods and Beverages
The organic market is booming the world over. This is particularly true in the U.S. where organic foods have now become part of the American mainstream. Demand for organic food has been growing steadily for the past 10-15 years, so much so that it now outstrips supply, and the value of U.S. imports of organic products now exceed exports by 8 to 1.
Europe is by far the largest producer and market worldwide and Germany is the largest market within Europe. In Germany organic farming dates back to Rudolf Steiner and Hans Mueller, two preeminent philosophers, who first propagated "organic-biological" agriculture in the 1920s and 1930s.
As in the United States, it took until the 1990s for organic foods to become mainstream in Germany, along with the rest of Europe. Germany had the second largest area (after Italy) of organic acreage in Europe with 2.0 m acres, which represents 4.7 % of total farmland. Acreage grew over 10% over the past years a trend that is likely to continue.In 2005, 17,020 organic - or "bio" farms - supplied the food processing industry. Regular supermarkets currently carry about 200 organic products, while some of the organic-only supermarkets carry up to 8,000 different organic products.
Germans reacted most strongly to the worldwide food scares in the 90s, with far greater mistrust in the conventional food supply than all other European nations. The mid 40s baby boomers are the driving force of on-going the organic or "Öko" food boom both attitudinally and behaviorally demanding healthier foods.
As in the United States, the German organic food industry developed locally and regionally with individual farms market their products through associations and cooperatives. Over time, competing organizations issued a multitude of labels and certifications that confused consumers rather than inducing them to buy. In 2001, the ministry of agriculture, nutrition and consumer protection coordinated and regulated the labeling requirements and issued the so-called bio-seal ("Bio-Siegel") which denotes 100% organic. To date, 1868 companies with 35,405 products have applied for the "Bio Siegel", which was designed to clearly differentiate organic from conventional products on supermarket shelves. The "Bio-Siegel" conforms to EC norms of organic food inspections.
Besides the seal, many of the individual associations and cooperatives that certify organic farmers have banded together under a new umbrella organization in Sept 2002, called "Bund Ökologischer Lebensmittelwirtschaft" (www.boelw.de). This organization is further developing common quality control systems and effective communications structures between all stakeholders, from growers to the trade to consumers. Additional information about organic farming in Germany is available from the following sites and documents:
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