Organic food sales hoping for a revival

Over the last few months, during the recession, the organic food industry has taken a battering where people haven't had the excess money to spend on higher priced food products. The industry took another blow when UK researchers found there was little difference in nutritional value for organic food, and no evidence of any extra health benefits from eating organic produce. The Food Standards Agency, which commissioned the report, said that the findings would help people make an "informed choice."

To try and combat the negative press that has been received, some of the biggest names in the UK's organic food industry are meeting today at the 'Go for Growth' conference in London. The meeting will include representatives from Tesco, organic milk co-operative OMSCO, chocolate maker Green & Blacks and yogurt firm Yeo Valley.

The UK organic industry body, the Organic Trade Board has drawn up an ambitious plan to expand the organic market by GBP£1 billion to GBP£3.1 billion over the next six years.

When the economy was in a better position, more shoppers wanted to buy organic foods, but since the recession hit, shoppers have been looking for cheaper alternatives as they've had to tighten their belts. Recently, sales of organic vegetables are down 19 percent, and sales of organic wine and bread sales have fallen to just half of what they were a year ago.

Despite these dropping, some organic products, such as milk and peanut butter are still growing in popularity.

"The need to get the organic message across to consumers is always quoted as the biggest barrier to sales growth and with this initiative, we have the opportunity to speak with one voice and engage in a plan designed to grow the market and spread the positive benefits of organic produce," said Huw Bowles, chairman of the Organic Trade Board.

The OTB conference will showcase the plan, case studies from organic companies, and it will look at how the industry plans to work together to generate growth.

For the past year the OTB has been hard at work building a business plan to grow organic sales. They have been working with sector representatives and directly with companies, certifiers and retailers, to identify and summarise the barriers to growth and the work that is needed with the consumer, the retailers and in the supply chain if they are to increase organic sales.

22/09/2009

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