IFOAM | Early Organic Market Development in Southeast Brazil Market development According to a study of REA from 2003, it is estimated that this network accounts for about 50% of the organic production and 80% of the organic farms in the south. For the producers, farmers’ street markets are the most common system for selling. Members also export or sell to the public sector (public schools, hospitals, and restaurants) and other places, such as small shops and supermarkets. Most of the exported products are also certified by an internationally accepted third party certifier. Table 1 shows the commercialization of members of REA in 2003. To sell to public institutions has proved to be an excellent alternative also to increase and spread the production from the agro-ecology system developed by family farmers. For the family farmers in REA a successful strategy for commercialization was the refusal to accept a path that was considered the only one: because of the success of the street markets the natural way would be for bigger volumes to be sold to supermarket chains and, as a next step, for export. These steps have not been ignored, but the farmers made a clear decision that the possibilities of increasing the local and regional markets should be intensively explored. In practice it meant to increase significantly the number of organic family farmers’ street markets, to open small shops owned by the farmers themselves, to create small consumers’ cooperatives even in rather small towns, and to invest in the institutional (public) market. The results have been quite positive. Today it is clear that besides being politically and ecologically more sound, selling to local markets increases the farmers’ profits. The experiences of selling to big supermarket chains were quite frustrating because of the way those chains relate to family farmers, who have almost no power to bargain in these spaces. The successful strategies of commercialization have been designed by organic family farmers’ organizations and the NGOs that support them. In some places, the active presence of consumers also was an important support. The main strategy to reach consumers has been to occupy all possible spaces in the media because of the growing interest in environmental issues, and especially in food contamination problems. Professionals, NGOs, and farmer groups made an effort in spreading information about organic farming as a solution to the apparent problems of environmental degradation caused by food production. Further Reading on Southeast Brazil's Organic Sector development: Case Studies for Early Organic Development Early Organic Agricultural Development Early Market Development for Organic Agriculture Regulatory Framework for Organic Development Organization, Structural Support, and Lessons Learned IFOAM is constantly updating the information on this website. Comments or suggestions contact the Platform Coordinator Back to the Growing Organic main page

	Early Organic Market Development in Southeast Brazil Market development According to a study of REA from 2003, it is estimated that this network accounts for about 50% of the organic production and 80% of the organic farms in the south. For the producers, farmers’ street markets are the most common system for selling. Members also export or sell to the public sector (public schools, hospitals, and restaurants) and other places, such as small shops and supermarkets. Most of the exported products are also certified by an internationally accepted third party certifier. Table 1 shows the commercialization of members of REA in 2003. To sell to public institutions has proved to be an excellent alternative also to increase and spread the production from the agro-ecology system developed by family farmers. For the family farmers in REA a successful strategy for commercialization was the refusal to accept a path that was considered the only one: because of the success of the street markets the natural way would be for bigger volumes to be sold to supermarket chains and, as a next step, for export. These steps have not been ignored, but the farmers made a clear decision that the possibilities of increasing the local and regional markets should be intensively explored. In practice it meant to increase significantly the number of organic family farmers’ street markets, to open small shops owned by the farmers themselves, to create small consumers’ cooperatives even in rather small towns, and to invest in the institutional (public) market. The results have been quite positive. Today it is clear that besides being politically and ecologically more sound, selling to local markets increases the farmers’ profits. The experiences of selling to big supermarket chains were quite frustrating because of the way those chains relate to family farmers, who have almost no power to bargain in these spaces. The successful strategies of commercialization have been designed by organic family farmers’ organizations and the NGOs that support them. In some places, the active presence of consumers also was an important support. The main strategy to reach consumers has been to occupy all possible spaces in the media because of the growing interest in environmental issues, and especially in food contamination problems. Professionals, NGOs, and farmer groups made an effort in spreading information about organic farming as a solution to the apparent problems of environmental degradation caused by food production. Further Reading on Southeast Brazil's Organic Sector development: Case Studies for Early Organic Development Early Organic Agricultural Development Early Market Development for Organic Agriculture Regulatory Framework for Organic Development Organization, Structural Support, and Lessons Learned IFOAM is constantly updating the information on this website. Comments or suggestions contact the Platform Coordinator Back to the Growing Organic main page



	Market development According to a study of REA from 2003, it is estimated that this network accounts for about 50% of the organic production and 80% of the organic farms in the south. For the producers, farmers’ street markets are the most common system for selling. Members also export or sell to the public sector (public schools, hospitals, and restaurants) and other places, such as small shops and supermarkets. Most of the exported products are also certified by an internationally accepted third party certifier. Table 1 shows the commercialization of members of REA in 2003. To sell to public institutions has proved to be an excellent alternative also to increase and spread the production from the agro-ecology system developed by family farmers. For the family farmers in REA a successful strategy for commercialization was the refusal to accept a path that was considered the only one: because of the success of the street markets the natural way would be for bigger volumes to be sold to supermarket chains and, as a next step, for export. These steps have not been ignored, but the farmers made a clear decision that the possibilities of increasing the local and regional markets should be intensively explored. In practice it meant to increase significantly the number of organic family farmers’ street markets, to open small shops owned by the farmers themselves, to create small consumers’ cooperatives even in rather small towns, and to invest in the institutional (public) market. The results have been quite positive. Today it is clear that besides being politically and ecologically more sound, selling to local markets increases the farmers’ profits. The experiences of selling to big supermarket chains were quite frustrating because of the way those chains relate to family farmers, who have almost no power to bargain in these spaces. The successful strategies of commercialization have been designed by organic family farmers’ organizations and the NGOs that support them. In some places, the active presence of consumers also was an important support. The main strategy to reach consumers has been to occupy all possible spaces in the media because of the growing interest in environmental issues, and especially in food contamination problems. Professionals, NGOs, and farmer groups made an effort in spreading information about organic farming as a solution to the apparent problems of environmental degradation caused by food production. Further Reading on Southeast Brazil's Organic Sector development: Case Studies for Early Organic Development Early Organic Agricultural Development Early Market Development for Organic Agriculture Regulatory Framework for Organic Development Organization, Structural Support, and Lessons Learned IFOAM is constantly updating the information on this website. Comments or suggestions contact the Platform Coordinator Back to the Growing Organic main page




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