Analysis & Opinion

UK Organic Sales Start to Revive After Dip

Demand for organic food and drink in Britain is starting to revive after a recession driven decline, Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, said on Wednesday.
 
"Overall the market is down by about 14 percent on a year ago but the real trough was about six months ago. There are beginning to be signs of a return to growth," Holden told Reuters on the sidelines of the body's annual conference.

The Soil Association certifies most of Britain's organic products.

"The market for organic milk is 6 percent up on a year ago and I think there are signs that a return to growth is happening in other areas as well," Holden said.

Holden said when Britain plunged into recession there was a tendency for consumers to look to spend less on everything, including food, with some downtrading for example from organic chicken to free range chicken.

Some analysts and retailers have suggested the weakness of sales of organic food reflects the lack of a clear marketing message, noting the ethical labels such as fairtrade have fared much better in the economic downturn.

Advocates of organic farming argue modern intensive farming methods are not "sustainable" as they rely heavily on inputs such as nitrogen fertilisers to maintain the fertility of soil and their use increases the emissions of greenhouse gases at a time when climate change is a growing threat.

COMPLEX MESSAGE

Holden accepted the complexity of the organic movement's message posed a challenge.

"If you look at single issue labelling schemes such as fairtrade, free range they have proved largely recession proof in the last 18 months but they are only looking at one aspect of a very complex and holistic set to changes that need to be adopted if we are going to farm more sustainably," he said.

"A marketing person would say do a single issue label, it is easier to get your message across. I would say we were never about a marketing image based solution. We are about a systems based solution which relies on a range of different changes in practices being incorporated into a whole package.

"By definition it is more difficult to communicate that to an audience.

Holden said consumers had not yet fully grasped the fragility of the food supply chain.

"Some people think it takes a shock to awaken a sleeping population and the shock will be a food crunch," he said, adding the supply chain had been stretched during Britain's recent spell of freezing weather and a thaw came just in time.

"We had the credit crunch, we may have the energy crunch, will it take a food crunch to shake us all our of our complacency? I hope the Soil Association can do more to generate public debate about these issues," he said.

Source: Reuters