Fausto Jori is the Chief Executive Officer of EcorNaturaSì, the leading organic food retail chain in Italy. Set up in Verona in 1992, the company has 350 points of sale distributed all over Italy. In 2009, the merger of Ecor (the largest wholesale distributor in the organic and biodynamic sector) and NaturaSì led to the creation of EcorNaturaSì, which now controls the chain of production, distribution and marketing in Italy through its network of specialised shops.
– Organic market sales: what trend do you see across Europe?
In Europe, specialized organic stores are growing. They started increasing in the second half of 2023, after the 2022 crisis. And 2024 was definitely a year of significant growth for organic specialized stores — with increases of 3%, 5%, even 10%, depending on the country. But there is a kind of wave moving across Europe. There is no country where there is no growth.
Usually, sales of organic products in large chains are decreasing. It also depends on the countries, but on average, there is an increase in organic specialized stores and a decrease in bio in large chains. And this is quite clear in the landscape of Europe. Obviously, this is kind of scary for the system.
The decrease of organic in the large chains means that the demand for organic products is also decreasing. So, this could be dangerous for the organic system overall; organic specialized stores are increasing but not enough to substitute for the decrease in the large chain.
– Why do you think this is happening?
It is hard to be coherent with organic products: it is difficult to be sure that they are real organic products, the production cost is higher than that of conventional ones, and it’s not easy to have a large assortment in large chains. It’s more difficult than they expected.
Two to six years ago, the introduction of organic products in large chains was a new business opportunity: they were new products with the high price, and probably the clients would be more willing to spend more for their products. This turned out to be a mirage, because it’s not easy to have 1,000–2,000 SKUs of top-quality organic products in one store. The large chains are more focused on return on investments, increasing sales, and marginality. So, in my understanding, it is reducing because it is not a rich business at the end.
Having 500 SKUs is a good number for a category — but not when they’re lost among 10,000 to 15,000 SKUs in a large chain. I wish that, in any case, organic would increase independent of the channel. But I believe that organic is more a lifestyle choice, not a business choice.
– Who do you usually consider as your competitor or your mirror to be reflected in?
If I look at the Italian market, there are no competitors because, in some way, we are the only one large specialized store chain. And there are no real competitors that we can deal with. We have to look at Europe and understand where and who is someone that we can compare with. And for sure, large companies like Biocoop in France or Dennree in Germany are companies that we are looking at as examples, or as different approaches with the same mission. My wish is to have these companies around the table and look at problems together, finding a view, making a benchmark or discussing topics. In the last two years, IFOAM has been pushing us to do it, and that’s nice.
Twice a year, we have a retail meeting with IFOAM and the major organic specialized stores to compare ourselves and to share ideas. It is a good thing because very often the organic movement is quite good at looking at the farming side but is not so good on the retail part. Being a good retailer is hard: having the sales per square meter is an important KPI but you need more.
"Organic is a lifestyle choice, not a business choice"
– In which countries is EcorNaturaSì currently active?
We really focus on Italy. The second country where we are present is Spain, for historical reasons and also for opportunity. Spain is an interesting market, not just for business. There are thousands of small, independent organic stores. It is not easy to survive as an independent store in a competitive market. I believe there’s room for an alliance of independent organic stores — to improve marketing and better differentiate their assortment. So, if there is a possibility to put together an alliance as a scope to help small stores to stay in the market, to be better in marketing and sales, and to have pure, real organic products, I believe Spain is the right place to stay.
– Wouldn’t it make sense for organic to have a joint buying group — or is the organic specialized retail too heterogeneous?
In my perspective, there is some room for efficiency. The pasta, the pomodoro, the orange juice, and the vegetables coming from the south of Italy are the best you can find in Europe. If people in Europe want to have this kind of food, it's quite stupid to have single companies having their own channel to go to the farmers to buy this kind of product. It is very costly to have an entire value chain certified organic. In my understanding, having a collaboration should be much more efficient for the system. So, the point is EcoNaturaSì can put energy into having agronomists there to control and support farmers, and then the production can be shared with all chains. The same applies for apples in Poland or olive oil in Spain. Not as a procurement office, but as a project management. But it’s not easy.
– At EcorNaturaSì, you’ve taken many steps to connect farmers and consumers through some of your products…
We have more than ten agronomists and more than 15 people in quality for the controlling system. We make a double examination. At this moment, with the climate change crisis, it is not easy to deal with agriculture. So, we have to support farmers — in planning, crop rotation, and seed selection.
If the seeds are selected for conventional agriculture, they are not suitable for organic. Organic seeds are stronger and better able to grow deep into the soil to find nutrients and water. If they are not organic, they are used to having all food around them, meaning they stay there waiting for fertilizing, waiting for water.
This very long value chain, called Farm to Fork, actually goes from seeds to the stomach. Our goal is healthy food, in addition to healthy agriculture. So, why stop at the fork or at the table? It should go all the way to the mouth, to the stomach, to the intestine.
– What can you tell us about EcorNaturaSì’s strategy and development for the near future?
We have two goals. One, to be better retailers and be able to manage stores correctly and efficiently. We have been working a lot in the last 20 years to help stores be able to manage properly (marketing, management, sales, square meters, etc.). And we are still going through a process to improve it. We give them tools, as well as processes and best practices in marketing. We also help them with the assortment and the product presentation in the store. Also, with IT support, accounting and payroll, because if you want to have commitment from people, you have to pay the right salary. We have more than 25 people only supporting the management control of stores. We have around 350 stores in Italy. They are not only direct stores but also affiliated. We want to support them as well.
As for our second goal, with no consumer, there is no money to support agriculture. But farmers are at this moment the very weak part of the value chain. And the revenue farmers can get from the products they produce is not enough to survive. Even though, EcoNaturaSì we pay them 20-30% higher than the market, it is still not enough. So, the goal in our strategy is to find out additional revenue streams for farmers, not paid only by the customer.
"If we are able to be transparent with the consumer, the consumer will be part of our ecosystem. And this the revolution"
If farmers are using organic or biodynamic agriculture, they are able to store CO2 in the soil. They are creating a kind of ecosystem service for the global world. So, if you are able to use their ability and measure the quantity of CO2 in the soil as an additional revenue stream for them. Just to have a vision, they can sell the carbon certificates to others that need to offset the pollution. That’s fantastic because it means that the organic farmer is able to create additional positive services.
By definition, organic and biodynamic farms support biodiversity — the medicine for the agriculture of the future. If you produce organic, you capture CO2, and you increase biodiversity. If someone is able to pay for that, it is an additional revenue stream for the farmer. That’s really important because that means the system pays them for additional positive services that they make to the world. We are bringing together a lot of scientists to measure biodiversity in order to give numbers. Now there is a new European regulation that is trying to organize this kind of ecosystem service as additional revenue for farmers.
– EcorNaturaSì is now the owner of BiotoBio Ibérica, and in Italy you sold your participation in BiotoBio to Probios.
We want to focus on retail — investing in stores, improving management, and attracting consumers. Because if you have consumers in your ecosystem, you can change the world. If the consumer is outside your ecosystem, you are pretty similar to a large chain. So, the idea is to create a new concept of retail, not demand and offer.
We had the majority of BiotoBio, but this is a B2B business, so it doesn’t have the consumer in front like B2C. So, we preferred to simplify our business and focus on that and getting the money from the deal to invest in stores.
The reality of organic is not a product; it is a cultural movement. The product is just a small piece. We want to have an organic lifestyle, and the only way is to have a consumer inside the ecosystem, not outside.
– Which are the major challenges and opportunities organic is currently facing?
We are transparent because we want that you, as a consumer, to be with us. Adam Smith, the founder of capitalism two centuries ago, said the price is done by an invisible hand, so the price is a kind of secret in the commercial activity. But this is wrong. The price must be transparent. This is very disruptive and very complex. We have been working with this kind of approach in the last two years. If we are able to be transparent with the consumer, the consumer will be part of our ecosystem. That’s the real revolution.
Oriol Urrutia, Co-Editor Bio Eco Actual
