Leading French specialist organic retailer Biocoop says it plans to open 17 new stores in 2023, despite recording a 5.6% decline in sales in 2022.
With 765 stores nationwide and sales totalling €1.495 billion, Biocoop actually fared significantly better than the organic market as a whole in France, which shrank by 12% during a year marked by war in Europe, political upheaval and severe pressures on household spending.
Biocoop, which operates as a cooperative, says its “militant project” is in good shape and that it will speak out in 2023 on the issue of fair prices for food. It told the French trade title Circuits Bio this week that this “continuing fight” will be built around three strategic pillars – an acceleration of the ecological traditions (through sustainable sourcing and production and increased use of reuse and bulk sales), the sharing of value (via a commitment to fair trade) and by being more demanding about product formulations (ensuring products are devoid of ultra-transformation, or ultra-processing, markers).
Image: Biocoop