Organic sales drop, but reasons for optimism
Sales of organic products fell by 3.7% to £1.67bn last year, according to the Soil Association’s annual market report.
It followed a fall in organic spending in the previous year, as shoppers further reigned in their spending and retailers erred away from premium products towards price promotions and value packs.
The amount of land farmed organically also fell for the second year in a row, down 2.8% last year to just over 718,000ha and almost 300 producers and processors quit the sector.
But despite the difficult times, the report highlighted several reasons for optimism, as summarised below. See our special Food Chain feature for a more detailed analysis of the organic market in 2011.
Threats
- Prospects remain fragile and linked to high street trends – little sign of quick economic recovery
- Supermarkets not willing to invest in promoting organics – creates self-fulfilling prophecy
- Assurance and accreditation schemes for conventional farming confusing organic’s message for consumers
- Seen as elitist
Opportunities:
- Growth in some parts of organic market, especially independent outlets
- Strong organic sales growth worldwide
- Increasing organic sales among discounters
- Future growth of UK market requires change in attitude among supermarkets and government
- New image could revitalise organics
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