News

The "Ohne Gentechnik" market grows to over 18 billion euros

Shortly before the upcoming EU deregulation of genetic engineering, the year-on-year increase in sales of products bearing the green "Ohne Gentechnik" seal stood at around 6.1 percent in 2025. The rise in sales was above average at 14.6 percent for poultry meat and 9.3 percent for eggs. Dairy products continue to account for the largest share of "Ohne Gentechnik" products at 66 percent, followed by poultry meat at 22.7 percent and eggs at 9.9 percent of sales.

The solid success model "Ohne Gentechnik" – soon to become even more relevant?

"These encouraging figures show that ‘Ohne GenTechnik’ is and remains a solid model for success that continues to grow," comments Alexander Hissting, Managing Director of the Association Food without Genetic Engineering (VLOG). "With the imminent widespread abolition of the legal requirement to label genetically modified ingredients in food, the significance of ‘Ohne GenTechnik’ is likely to increase significantly once again. Anyone who wants to be sure in future that their food has been produced without genetic engineering will only be able to recognise this by the ‘Ohne GenTechnik’ or organic seal. As a result, our seal will be relevant in many more areas than before, including staple foods such as bread, potatoes and other vegetables, as well as products made from them. For ‘Ohne Gentechnik’, just as for organic, it is absolutely clear that no ‘new genetic engineering’ is used either. To continue to guarantee this, we now need workable coexistence regulations."

As part of the upcoming EU deregulation of "new genetic engineering", the current requirement to label genetically modified ingredients in the list of ingredients is set to be abolished for most new genetically modified products. The European Parliament’s final approval, which is still pending, is scheduled for the end of May 2026 and is considered highly likely.

Over 36 billion euros in GMO-free sales combined with Organic

The "Ohne Gentechnik" market remains almost exactly on a par with the organic market, which is projected to grow by 6.7 percent to 18.2 billion euros by 2025. The use of genetic engineering is also strictly prohibited in organic food. Together, these two sectors now account for GMO-free food sales of over 36 billion euros.

The distinctive green "Ohne GenTechnik" diamond was introduced in 2009 by the then German Minister of Agriculture, Ilse Aigner (CSU), as a government-run seal. The Association Food without Genetic Engineering (VLOG) is responsible for assigning and monitoring the seal.