UK organic food sales soar
BRITAIN’S ORGANIC food market has undergone unprecedented growth, according to new statistics released at the BioFach 2005 world organic trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany.
Between 1999 and 2003, sales grew by 111%, the highest rate of rise in any country over that period. The UK organic market is now the second largest in Europe and the third largest in the world, with product sales in 2003 of €
The area of land under organic management in the UK at this time was 695,600ha, representing just over 4% of the country’s farmland.
The data show European sales of organic products are estimated to have expanded by about 5% in 2003 to top €
Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, attributed the growth to public dissatisfaction with conventional farming. “People are becoming aware that industrial farming is taking something away from them. There is an underlying wish for a more trustworthy, environmentally friendly and healthy alternative,” he said.
Despite such a blossoming market, there were surprisingly few British exhibitors at BioFach. “There are eight NEC size halls here, with everyone from growers, processors, certifiers and NGOs represented,” said Mr Holden. “But the lack of UK exhibitors is an embarrassment, considering no other sector of the UK food industry is growing so fast.”
Feedback was positive from those who did attend. “We’ve picked up some great contacts. If just a couple come through it will more than pay for the trip,” said Jan Stone from the Pertwood Organic Cereal Company, Wilts.
But, while the average consumer spend is showing healthy growth, the number of organic consumers is more static. “There is a price/image problem with organic food,” said Toralf Richter of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture. “I know of tests in Germany where conventional products outsell the organic versions, even when the price is the same.”