Ukraine has about 300 organic food suppliers, and about one percent of the food sold is organic. Despite the higher cost of organic products there, organic products are increasing in popularity, reports Kyiv Post. Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture has made organic farming one of the ministry’s priorities.

A market report from TechSci Research predicts the market for organic food in Germany will reach €15 billion by 2021, due to rising income and increasing awareness about organic farming and the benefits of organic food. About 52 percent of Germany’s organic food revenues were in the meat/poultry/dairy and the fruits/vegetables categories in 2015.

Up 15 percent from 2014, organic food sales in France reached $6.4 billion (5.8 billion euros) in 2015. Forty-five percent of organic food sales were via supermarkets, but sales in specialty stores and directly form producers were up. Although purchases in the food service sector were up 18 percent, it is till only a small share of total sales. 

Talks between the European Commission, the Agriculture Committee, and Parliament concerning revisions to EU’s organic regulations continue, with six more rounds of discussion scheduled. The discussions are not likely to resolve all the remaining issues before the target date at the end of June. Although organic-market.info reports that there is agreement on the scope of the legislation, regulations for imports and partial farm conversions, there is still disagreement concerning threshold values for pesticide contamination of organic farm products, and disagreement on which aspect of changes should addressed as part of implementation.

Aeon Co., Ltd., in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and Marne & Finance Europe, headquartered in Brussels, have formed a joint venture called Bio c’Bon Japon to expand the organic supermarket business in Japan.

The list of substances acceptable in organic farming now has 39 new entries. The new products are authorized for use for different purposes such as basic substances (like vinegar) to be used as plant production products, selenised yeast as a feed additive, wood fibre as a processing aid and gellan gum as a food additive. In parallel, the Regulation allows for further clarification and simplification of the current legislation in organic aquaculture (use of juveniles), on seaweed production (spirulina’s production rules) and in organic wine (use of certain oenological practices).