UK organic market celebrates sixth year of growth
The Soil Association’s 2018 Organic Market Report – launched today, 7 February – reveals the UK organic market is now worth more than ever at £2.2 billion, growing 6% in 2017. The market has now had six years of steady growth, with organic accounting for 1.5 per cent of the total UK food and drink market.
Key trends highlighted in the report include:
• Supermarket sales of organic grew by 4.2% in 2017 [1]
• Independent retailers increased sales of organic by 9.7%, and sales for home delivery, including box schemes, grew by 9.5%
• Sales in foodservice (which includes catering and restaurants) grew by 10.2%
• Dairy sales increased by 3.1%, and still have the highest share of the organic food and drink market at nearly 29%
• Sales of meat, fish and poultry grew by 4.1%
• Fresh produce, up 6.5%, had the highest value growth, equating to over £20m in sales
The future for organic is looking bright. In 2017, the amount of farmland in conversion to organic rose 22% as farmers responded to the rise in demand for organic produce. And with payment windows now open for Countryside Stewardship in England and the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme in Scotland, the amount of farmland being converted to organic is expected to keep rising, particularly in light of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan which calls for agriculture that supports the natural environment.
With ‘organic’ increasingly considered synonymous with ‘health’, people interested in health and wellbeing are increasingly opting for organic fresh produce.
Adam Wakeley of Organic Farm Foods said: “Organic fruit has been a star performer over the past year, and we’ve certainly seen all of fresh organic produce grow. One reason is down to an evolving consumer profile – millennials are now our biggest customer group, and they show a huge interest in food provenance and health. They understand that having food grown in an environmentally friendly way is a good thing. We believe their attitude is here to stay, and will continue to drive growth in the future.”
