Small Organic Businesses are Losing to the Big Guys in Germany

"Germany's organic food industry enjoyed a boom year in 2007. Turnover rose 15 percent, an increase of 5 billion euros ($7.4 billion). But that's not good news for everyone in the business. Organic food store owner Ralf Murmann has been running his business in Bonn for 33 years. Profit was never his sole motive. But in the past, he was able to make a living from the shop. Now, with the trend towards organic food booming in Germany, his store is on the brink of closure.

"We are not profiting from this boom. Shops of this size are the losers in this development", said Murmann. He stocks the same kind of yoghurts as the same organic supermarket two kilometres away. His store also has a big cheese counter, freshly baked bread, fruit and vegetables from local farmers. But Murmann's customers have been dwindling since ever more conventional supermarkets started to stock organic products.

"Organic is not just about labels," Murmann said. "When we started out, we wanted to change farming and to change business practices. We didn't want supermarkets built on greenfield sites.""

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