Bulgaria’s organic foods market is marking some serious growth in the past several years, according to recent reports in the local and international media.

Two parallel interests towards organic farming and its produce had been noticed, said an article on October 8 on the Organic-Market.Info web site.
One of them was of a group of customers with a so-called green mind, in other words people who wanted to be in control of their health, who valued the environment and the country’s prestige. The other group in this process was a constantly growing number of farmers, who offer their organic produce on the market.

According to Organic-Market.info most organic farms in Bulgaria were very small and ran less than one hectare. They often relied on investment from abroad and supply contracts with foreign companies. Currently, 90 per cent of all Bulgarian organic food is exported to wealthier European Union (EU) member states.

In addition to the production from these small farms, large areas of wild land have been certified as organic to collect wild fruits, herbs and mushrooms. It was assumed that about 60 % of raw materials came from this wild collection. Organic rose oil, tobacco, wine and fruit growing were assumed to be of the highest potential for the country, the article said.

The Bulgarian laws on organic agriculture fully complied with the EU legislation and a serious part of the land in Bulgaria was suitable for such agriculture, according to Agriculture Ministry statement.

The ministry has promised to support organic farming and food processing with around 12.6 million euro in 2007 in order to boost the domestic market and gain market niche in the EU. The Bulgarian law on genetically modified organisms (GMO) is already restrictive which favours organic farming and prevents conflicts between organic and non-organic farmers, the article in Organic-Market.Info says.