Organic is no longer a niche topic. The Austrian organic market has been growing steadily for years, retailers are increasingly only listing suppliers with complete certification certificates, and end users expect transparency right down to the supply chain.

That sounds like an opportunity. And that's it — for companies that have their processes under control.

For everyone else, it is one thing above all else: effort.

What organic certifications really mean

An AMA organic certification or an Ecocert audit is not a one-off event. It is a continuous process: Each batch must be documented. Every supplier must be certified and proven. Every rebooking, every processing, every mix must remain comprehensible.

In practice, this means that a company that processes 50 different raw materials from 30 suppliers and produces 200 end products has hundreds of documentation processes every day — all of which must be linked together.

Anyone who does this manually has a full-time job. Anyone who does this with an integrated ERP system has a competitive advantage.

The difference between compliance and competitive advantage

The most interesting development in recent years isn't that organic certifications are becoming more complex. The most interesting development is that leading companies no longer regard certifications as a requirement — but as a differentiating feature.

If a retailer can choose between two suppliers, one of whom can provide guarantees of origin at the push of a button and the other cannot — who gets the listing?

The answer is obvious. And it will become even clearer in the next few years as EU transparency requirements for food supply chains continue to rise.

What this means for medium-sized companies

Digitalization is not an IT project in the food industry. It is a strategic decision about whether you still want to be competitive in three years.

The good news: Getting started is easier than many think. Anyone who starts batch management has taken the most important step. Everything else—recipe management, supplier evaluation, automated certification reports—builds on this.

fab4minds has over 25 years of experience with organic farms in the DACH region. Talk to us.

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