East Europe's organic food industry is rapidly growing. More people in the region are keen to eat healthy products.

In some Eastern European countries the number of organic farms is more than double compared to Western Europe. Experts predict further development of such farms. Of course the crisis has slowed down the consumption of organic products, but farmers are optimistic about the future. A couple of decades ago in the same region, natural products, grown without chemicals were a quite rare and were making way to the market very slowly. However, during the past decade, East Europe residents became more aware in what food they eat. Rapid growth in consumption lead to the increase in the number of ecological farms.

According to the Agriculture Ministry of Czech Republic, around 10 percent of agricultural land is used to grow organic products. This is nearly twice as much as in Germany. In 2009 the number of such farms has reached 2.7 thousand which is an increase of 50 percent compared to 2008. In 2008, consumption of organic products increased by 40 percent and reached a turnover of 69 million EUR.

Similar figures can also bee seen in other Eastern European countries. Since 2002, the number of organic farms in Bulgaria has increased 27 times during a period of five years. In 2008, Poland recorded 14.9 thousand of such farms; fourteen years ago they were just 300. According to “Eurostat”, in the period of 2005-2008 the largest increase of organic farms was recorded in Poland (94%) and Lithuania (89 %). Consumption of organic products also grew rapidly. In Poland alone the sales of organic products rose by 300% during 2007-2008. Czech Republic experienced a growth in consumption of 70%.

According to experts, this trend is due to government subsidies and the change in people's eating habits. A couple of decades, the Eastern Europeans ate plenty of meat and few vegetables, at the moment the younger generation is trying to eat healthy and try out a wide range of organic products.

Nevertheless compared with the West, East Europe's organic food industry is still relatively low. In 2007 its turnover was just 60 million EUR while through whole Europe - as much as 20 billion EUR.

Experts have identified that the consumption of organic products is limited by the low levels of economic development. For example, in Slovakia, where the average salary is 800 EUR, organically grown chicken costs 10 EUR per kilo. Non organic chicken costs only 2.5 EUR per kilo. In some countries, organic and non organic prices vary greatly. In Poland organic products can cost 300 % more than non organic, in Czech Republic – up to 140 % more, in Romania - at least two times more.

Eastern European organic farms owners tend to sell their products to the West. There they turn into cookies or dairy products and often return back to Eastern European stores. This complex process only further increases the price of organic products.