The UK organic fruit and vegetable market was worth £163 million in the last 12 months and accounted for three per cent of spend in the total fruit and vegetable market.

However, growth in expenditure over the latest year has decreased considerably from 13 per cent the previous year, and is now growing at a rate below that of non-organic fruit & vegetables. In volume terms, it actually declined by four per cent year-on-year whilst non-organic fruit and vegetable volume remained constant.

Despite this inferior annual performance though, spend in the last 4-week ending period has increased at a considerably higher rate of 12 per cent as more households took the opportunity to purchase organic produce.

The performance of organic vegetables has been poor relatively, with a static spend in the last year, compared to non-organic vegetable growth of seven per cent. Root crops are of great significance within the organic vegetable market as they have a 16.2 per cent share of the organic market compared to only a 7.2 per cent share of the total produce market. Root crops have in fact bolstered this position and continued to grow strongly in the last year, with a seven per cent increase in sales, although declining spend has occurred in the last four weeks. Organic potatoes and legumes have both suffered in the last 12 months, due to a fall in the number of buyers, and it is these sub-sectors in particular have led to the poor performance of organic vegetables.

Organic fruit on the other hand, has performed slightly better with year-on-year value growth of three per cent. Volume has declined by one per cent, indicating price inflation is the driver of market growth. Bananas are of particular importance in terms of the organics market as they account for 15.5 per cent compared to only 8.1 per cent of the total produce market. Organic bananas have continued to grow at a rate 14 per cent above that of non-organic bananas. Organic soft fruit, defined as berries and currants, grape and stonefruit, have grown rapidly this year in value and volume terms. Soft fruit has experienced exceptional growth in the last 4-week ending period as an extra 784,000 households purchasing from the category, which is most likely to be due to declining price levels.

In terms of retailers, multiples account for 91.6 per cent of organic produce sales compared to only 84.7 per cent of non-organic produce. Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and M&S all over trade in organic fruit and vegetables, with Sainsbury’s accounting for nearly 30 per cent of overall UK spend.

The organics market has now clearly reached a plateau in terms of the number of buyers it is attracting. For the market to now grow, households must be encouraged to buy more per trip or buy more often, possibly through the introduction of new organic variants.

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