2026
8
Germany Attitudes towards Organic Food and Drink: 2026
2026-03-23T18:01:39+00:00
REP044E99E4_ED2C_44FE_8E99_E4ED2CC4FE9A
2195
192154
[{"name":"Food","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/industries\/food"},{"name":"Consumer Attitudes","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/industries\/consumer-insights\/consumer-attitudes"},{"name":"Drinks","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/industries\/drinks"},{"name":"Market Intelligence Reports","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/report-type\/market-intelligence-reports"},{"name":"Germany","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/markets\/germany-market-research"}]
Report
en_GB
74% of Germans say minimal processing matters more than the organic label, even as organic purchasing continues to rise. This signals that consumers increasingly evaluate organic through a health and…
Germany
Food
Consumer Attitudes
Drinks
simple

Germany Attitudes towards Organic Food and Drink: 2026

"As organic becomes more embedded in grocery shopping, brands can drive growth through premium sensory cues and environmental consistency. Clear health benefits can further boost appeal."

Javier Munoz, Research - Mintel Reports

Javier Munoz, Research - Mintel Reports

Collapse All
  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for organic food and drink
    • Opportunities
    • Premiumising organic can unlock new growth
    • Embed organic’s strong environmental and ethical values into the entire value chain
    • Boost organic’s momentum with clearer health claims
    • Organic originals for modern wellbeing
  2. THE MARKET

    • Reduced price pressures lift German consumer sentiment
    • Graph 1: GDP and consumer price index, 2020-27
    • Health leads organic purchase drivers as Germans turn back to healthy living
    • Boost organic expansion with environmental awareness
    • Policy stability pushes organic from niche to infrastructure
    • Organic availability rises while domestic supply struggles to keep pace
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Reasons for purchasing organic food and drink products
    • Regular organic shopping rises in Germany
    • Organic becomes a habit: weekly frequency surges amid structural change
    • Graph 2: frequency of buying organic food and drink, 2023 and 2025
    • Wellbeing has become central to organic purchasing motivations
    • Organic as a shortcut to health and trust
    • Clearer labels, healthier choices, stronger trust
    • Consumer expectations towards sustainability in organic food and drink
    • Consumers push for transparent sustainability
    • Organic wins on values only when the impact is visible
    • Fulfil demand for local origin to signal trust
    • Occasional buyers need organic to speak a clearer language
    • Purchasing patterns of organic food and drink
    • Gen Z: making organic a snap decision
    • Organic: planned for most, purchased on a whim by Gen Z
    • Staples and ingredients lead the way in organic baskets
    • Graph 3: selected organic food and drink purchasing habits, 2025
    • Younger male organic buyers pave the way for premium organic
    • When organic demand meets retail reality
    • Graph 4: selected attitudes towards organic food and drink products, 2025
  4. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Private label pushes organic to the mainstream
    • Private label gets practical and principled
    • Shoppers’ organic radar lights up
    • From loyalty to layout, retailers race to own the organic future
    • Organic innovation thrives where health stakes are highest
    • Graph 5: share of food and drink launches carrying organic claim, by category, 2025
    • Ethical claims give organic a clear edge
    • Graph 6: selected claims in food and drink launches, by organic/regular, 2025
  5. APPENDIX

    • Report scope
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology – EMEA
    • Generations
    • Other data source methodologies
    • Mintel Spark
    • Abbreviations
    • A note on language

74% of Germans say minimal processing matters more than the organic label, even as organic purchasing continues to rise. This signals that consumers increasingly evaluate organic through a health and processing lens, not certification alone.

Health has overtaken the environment as the leading reason to buy organic, and consumers expect clearer proof that products are genuinely ‘cleaner’, from ingredient integrity to packaging that aligns with sustainability claims. Retailers, especially through private label and drugstores, are meeting this demand by expanding organic assortments and reshaping where trust sits in the aisle.

Demand is outpacing domestic supply, forcing growing dependence on imports, just as consumers scrutinise processing, packaging and environmental impact more closely. If availability feels inconsistent or packaging undermines environmental expectations, credibility becomes fragile.

Clear health‑focused communication, along with stronger environmental consistency, can help brands stand out.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • Purchase frequency of organic products, with weekly buying now the most common
  • Impact of health on product strategy and communication, overtaking the environment as the primary purchase driver
  • Greater visibility, broader availability and more accessible pricing – supported by private‑label growth and stabilising shelf prices – are pushing organic further into the mainstream
  • Behaviours and attitudes towards environmental consistency, providing an opportunity to keep organic relevant for environmentally conscious consumers
  • Innovation in organic food and drink, with a focus on areas where organic has the strongest health and trust relevance
Download Report Summary
£ 2,195 (Excl.Tax)
  • Pay via credit card or invoice
  • PDF, PPT and Excel download delivered instantly
  • Save up to 20% when you purchase multiple reports

Need help before you buy?

Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.

Contact us

Trusted by global industry leaders

Tenth Wave logo

Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.

When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.

The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.

Ben Zeidler, Director - Research and Analytics, Tenth Wave
Waitrose & Partners logo

We’ve found it so useful working more closely with Mintel. They helped support our recent flagship event for our top suppliers by providing a really unique viewpoint on the future of online retailing.

Nick Carroll from their Retail Team was also an excellent panelist, sharing useful and actionable consumer insights. We definitely look forward to working with Mintel again on future projects.

Zac Steele, E-Commerce Trading Development Manager, Waitrose & Partners
Epsilon logo

We utilize Mintel Reports, Trends and Comperemedia to mine for insights across the numerous business verticals that Epsilon serves, such as CPG, automotive, telecom, healthcare/pharma, retail and financial services.

By integrating Mintel insight into new business opportunities, we have been able to gain the competitive edge necessary to advance partnerships with global brands and key business players.

For our organization, it’s about depth and breadth. Having one without the other doesn’t enable success in our business.

Virginia Harvey, Secondary Research Manager, Epsilon
VocaLink logo

We use Mintel Reports, mostly for financial services and ecommerce markets, plus a few retail and technology ones.

As a leading payments provider, we value additional insights into consumer behaviour, opinions and trends that are shaping the many different markets we operate in. Mintel is a very good and very quick way for us to obtain those insights.

We use Mintel to get a view on where a particular market is going, which can support us in product development and help us identify opportunities or indeed risks, it is a very useful barometer of a market’s potential.

 

Andrew Neeson, Market Intelligence Manager, VocaLink
Abacus logo

There is no question that Mintel is the go-to resource for the best quality market research, but I did not think it was an affordable option for Abacus Marketing to consider. As a small marketing agency, we only work with a few new clients each year.

However, we have a very high-end consultative approach to our work, so we really do need a partner like Mintel to provide the big agency experience we are always aiming to deliver. Our clients come from an incredibly diverse range of industry sectors, so we obviously need access to market research reports from a very wide spectrum of marketplaces – and that is precisely what we got.

Stephen Taylor-Brown, Managing Director, Abacus

Need help before you buy?

Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.

Contact us