Organic Market Update

There has been a 2.8% increase on organic food sales in 2013.  This is according to the annual Organic Market report published by the Soil Association.  This reverses the trend seen since 2008.  Sales declined by 1.5% in 2012; a 3.7% decline was seen in 2011; 5.7% in 2010 and nearly 13% in 2009. 

Despite thegrowth in sales, the area of land managed organically in the UK continues to fall.  In July 2013 the organic land area was down 7.6% from the previous year to 606,000 hectares – around 3.5% of the total agricultural land in the UK.  The number of producers and processors fell by 6.3% to 6,487.

Growth in the organic dairy sector has been particularly strong over the last year with sales increasing by 4.4%. There has also been significant growth in catering and restaurant sales; demand from high street chains such as McDonalds and Pret-a-manger have seen sales increase in that sector by 10%.

The four main reasons why people buy organic has remain unchanged, although this year ‘fewer pesticides and chemicals’ came top of the list. This was followed by ‘natural/unprocessed’, ‘healthier’ and ‘better for nature and the environment’.  The full report can be found at – http://action.soilassociation.org/page/s/marketreportdownload