GB: positive future for the organic category

September has been called the organic month by the Soil Association as despite the recession, research has shown there is a positive future for the organic category. The association is aiming for a 10 % rise in organic sales. “As the largest grower of organic vegetables in the UK, we are continuing see good results from our key customers. There is evidence that the demand for organics has withstood the initial impact of the recession and consumers have remained loyal" said Andrew Burgess, Director of Agriculture at Produce World.

Soil Association has agreed a more sales-orientated programme of activities with Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado, involving more promotions and couponing than last year. Tesco, which has just added an organic section to its website, will run a Clubcard points offer for customers buying organic veg, supported with displays and adverts in-store. Ocado has started running promotions on a third of its 1,500-strong organic range, advertising the offers prominently with banner ads. Purchase frequency of organic carrots has increased 4.6 % as consumers buy more often, while both Sainsbury’s (up + 3.8 %) and Waitrose (up12.4 %) have had strong value growth from carrots.

Research recently conducted with the Organic Trade Board showed that consumers are still very much engaged with the benefits of organics. Consumers believe the main benefits of organic food and farming include: no GM ingredients or pesticides/chemicals are used in production (57 %), better for you/healthier (32 %) and better for nature/the environment (17 %).

Sources: farminguk.com , The Grocer