The Organic Trade Board (OTB) has secured a £1.7 million loan from Triodos Bank to help grow organic sales in the UK and move forward with a three-year marketing campaign.
The loan will underwrite the OTB’s ability to access the EU funding that was confirmed in 2017. The organisation's latest campaign has already been supported by the Feed Your Happy initiative, which aims to grow the UK organic market by five per cent every year until 2020 and is backed by Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox.
OTB chairman Adrian Blackshaw said: “I can confidently say that without Triodos Bank we would not have been able to move forward with this campaign.
“The flexibility and innovation that they brought to the table was critical to helping us meet the EU requirements for funding. Banking can be difficult for organisations seeking to raise finance like this, but Triodos understand the sector and bring a financial insight that is second to none.
“We are delighted that Triodos, an OTB member, is assisting us in delivering this important three-year marketing campaign.”
Food farming and trade manager at Triodos Bank, Simon Crichton, said: “We aim to provide finance that stimulates the organic market in the UK and the Organic Trade Board and their campaigning work is doing just that.
“With the development of an environmentally-focused government agricultural policy, now is the time to support an expansion of organic farming in the UK to meet the challenges now being recognised by government.”
The news follows a successful year for organic food sales, which jumped by 7.1 per cent in September. The sector has benefited from joined up campaigns between the Soil Association’s Organic September and the Organic Trade Board’s Feed Your Happy.
