IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes the explicit mention in the Public Procurement Act (PPA) of food procurement, and in particular of the role of organic products in contributing to the EU’s environmental and social objectives.
By recommending that public food procurement address key priorities such as fairness and transparency in food supply chains, requirements on organic production, nutritional value, health, freshness, seasonality, and animal welfare, the European Commission recognises the potential of public procurement to support the transition towards more sustainable food systems across the EU.
Such an approach can also contribute to a more competitive and resilient European food system by providing stable demand for sustainably produced food, strengthening farmers’ economic viability and local and regional supply chains, and reducing dependencies on external inputs, while ensuring that public spending supports the long-term sustainability and resilience of EU food production.
“Sustainable public food procurement can generate many positive environmental, social and economic externalities, while creating new markets for producers engaged in sustainable production methods, such as organic farmers. Specifically, case studies show that every euro invested as a one-time investment in sustainable food procurement can generate up to 35 euros of saving on health costs alone annually. The future rules of public food procurement must encourage cities and regions to source more organic products in their public canteens, to ensure that public money is spent on public goods” said Dóra Drexler, IFOAM Organics Europe President.
“Every euro invested in sustainable food procurement can generate up to 35 euros of saving on health costs alone annually”
According to Eduardo Cuoco, director of IFOAM Organics Europe “This approach is a good sign for the future of public canteens in the EU, for farmers and for citizens. It is also worth noting a significant change in public procurement with this proposal: the lowest price criterion is not the default method anymore, but it is replaced by the Best-Price Quality Ratio (BPQR). This leaves more room for public buyers and national authorities to favour high-quality products such as organic in their purchases.”
However, the PPA still lacks the ambition to make sustainable public procurement the easiest and most common option across the EU. The BPQR is weakened by broad derogation clauses, while the definition of “quality” is too vague to ensure high environmental and social standards are part of every public procurement contracts. Moreover, IFOAM Organics Europe regrets that the proposal does not provide a pathway for environmental or social criteria to become binding in the future.
Finally, IFOAM Organics Europe remains open to continue engaging with policymakers and partners to push for a regulation that matches the EU’s sustainability ambitions and to use public food procurement to contribute to the the EU’s food sovereignty.
- For further information visit the IFOAM Organics Europe website.
Subscribe to Bio Eco Actual Newsletter and be up to date with the latest news from the Organic Sector
Bio Eco Actual, International Organic Trade Media
Read the Bio Eco Actual International Yearbok 2025 – Trends 2026
