The word organics has always stirred up controversy in one way or another, and the last three months have seen the debate over category sales during the recession continue apace.
Environmental correspondent Geoffrey Lean, writing in The Telegraph at the end of November, argued that organic food sales are booming despite the recession. He wrote: “Organic food and other green goods are selling surprisingly well, despite the recession, it seems... And chains like Wal-Mart and Safeway [in the US] are increasingly moving them out of niche markets, with prices often beginning to rival those of conventional products.
“Even more surprising, perhaps, organic food is booming in eastern Europe in these straitened times, if from a very low base.”
But IGD analysis paints a less straightforward future for the sector - in the UK market, at least. Senior consumer analyst Tim Maton, speaking at a recent event organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Food, Drink & Agriculture Group, said that IGD research indicates that 15 per cent of shoppers questioned would buy more organic food in future, whereas 11 per cent would look to buy less.
“Organics is a challenge and we are not projecting the same growth as for other ethical concepts,” he told the room. “There is a group of core organic loyalists and some shoppers continue to aspire [to the category].
“But shoppers are drifting away in three ways. Some have found other products - organics is a broad church and people buy into it for a whole host of different reasons. Some shoppers have found options available to them that fulfil their criteria more than organics.
“Another group we spoke to was not sure what organic stood for and a challenge going forward for the organic industry must be to act more collectively. Organics is a complex [concept], whereas animal welfare and Fairtrade are simpler.
“Some shoppers also say they are focusing their organic purchases on fewer products, and have reined in to just a few categories where they see a perceived benefit.”
Maton suggested that better communication from the organics sector and collective action could help sales in the category recover.
And the organics industry is in the process of doing just that. Fronted by Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, the industry is in the process of securing EU funding and support, which will help drive sales of organic products and promote the organic brand.
The campaign will have three key elements: first, to assist the organic industry to secure EU funding and support; second, to run an initial campaign using PR and digital activity to reinforce reasons to purchase organic products; and third, to undertake a three-year integrated campaign, including press advertising, to promote the benefits of organic products and drive a 15 per cent increase in organic volume sales. Catherine Fookes at Sustain says: “More than 50 companies have now pledged to support the Organic UK marketing campaign,
co-ordinated by Sustain. So far, £240,000 has been raised and we are confident that we will reach the target of £250,000 to secure EU funding. With the EU funding, £500,000 will be available to promote organic products. The EU bid will culminate in July 2010 and at the moment, the first draft of the bid has been submitted to the Rural Payments Agency.”
Angus Davison from horticultural business Haygrove explains why he has pledged to the campaign: “We must revitalise the organic market and by working together in this way, and speaking with a unified voice, we can be much more effective at attracting new customers into organics and reminding those lapsed consumers that they should try it again.”
The Soil Association is also buoyant that the category is in a strong position going forward, both in terms of sales and also its ethical and environmental stance.
The organics body held a major international conference in London, The Future of Food, at the start of November, and released a report entitled Food Futures: Strategies for resilient food and farming, to coincide with the event.
In a statement, the trade association said: “Global food shortages will be an inevitable consequence of climate change and resource depletion unless we make fundamental changes to the way we farm, process, distribute and eat our food over the next 20 years.”
The report outlines what the Soil Association believes should be the blueprint for a more sustainable approach to food and farming, calling for a new cross-governmental food strategy, and including a series of recommendations for building resilience into our food systems.
Recommendations included raising the target for greenhouse gas cuts in agriculture from six per cent to at least 20 per cent by 2020, in line with other sectors; increasing farm payments to those farmers who maximise carbon storage in the soil, and making the minimisation of soil carbon losses a condition of the Common Agricultural Policy subsidy payments; increasing research and development funding for sustainable farming from 11 per cent to at least 50 per cent; promoting healthy diets linked to the outputs of a more sustainable food system - i.e less meat and much more seasonal and organic vegetables, fruit, wholegrains and starchy carbohydrates; supporting public sector caterers to increase the amount of unprocessed, locally sourced and organic food they serve; and encouraging local authorities to re-introduce ‘growing belts’ and market gardens close to urban centres, along with creating more allotments to encourage family and community ‘grow your own’ initiatives.
Based on a meeting of soil scientists convened by the Soil Association earlier this year, the report states that organic farming will increase soil carbon wherever it is practised, by adding carbon-rich organic matter to agricultural soils rather than relying on artificial fertiliser.
Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett said: “We need a joined-up strategy that links changes in diet to changes in our food systems. We can’t make plans for what people might eat in future in a different box to how that food is produced.”
Professor Robert Watson spoke at the conference, where he emphasised that it was food availability that was the main problem in addressing food security rather then production. He said: “Today’s hunger problems can be addressed with appropriate use of current technologies, emphasising agro-ecological practices, coupled with decreased post-harvest losses.”
The Soil Association was also out in full policy force last week as it released research suggesting that if all UK farmland was converted to organic farming, at least 3.2 million tonnes of carbon would be taken up by the soil each year - the equivalent of taking nearly 1m cars off the road.
Melchett said: “This research underlines the immediate and profound effect that organic farming techniques could have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and globally.”
CHALLENGES IN VARIETY BREEDING
The development of vegetable varieties for organic cultivation is not something we do just for the fun of it - it is part of the fabric of our organisation, says account manager Heleen Bos of vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan.
Within Rijk Zwaan breeding, organics is becoming a fixed attention point and in every country in which we operate, we strive to have a crop specialist as well as a chain manager who specialises in organic cultivation. That way, our chain partners always have a fixed contact point. Furthermore, we share information with growers, in the form of crop advice, as well as with trading companies. In some cases, we even regard it as our job to actively bring these parties together.
Rijk Zwaan has been active in the organics market since 1992. From a pioneering role, we have expanded our range considerably in recent years, not only in seeds that are not treated with chemicals but also in organically produced seeds. We are convinced that the future lies in the latter category, as a result of increasing pressure from the growers and also from buyers and the government.
At the moment, our biggest organic products are tomato, cucumber and lettuce and we continue to strive for further widening and extension of the range. We can offer an ever-greater variety range of cabbage, kohlrabi and carrots, among others. Take carrots, for instance. Stanford RZ, Zian RZ and newcomer Crofton RZ are very promising varieties for the UK market. They easily meet the selection criteria for our organic varieties: they are robust, resistant and vigorous. In addition, and responding to signals from the marketplace, we are selecting more and more on suitability for biological control, efficiency in the use of nitrogen and an excellent, original flavour.
One development of recent years is the emergence of specialities in organics, such as the Asian cucumber. Although it will always be about niche markets with such products, we are convinced that they are definitely part of any serious approach to organic vegetables.
Our efforts do not only relate to variety traits, however - there are many more challenges. In the area of seed production, for instance, we invest a lot of energy in finding the right growers, or we take on production ourselves, and when producing spinach seed there is the never-ending battle with weeds. We are also working on organic priming of seed.
And finally, there are the trends we try to tap into. One very good example is the development in the UK market, where consumers, especially organics consumers, attach increasing value to locally produced vegetables. That is why we have decided, from next season, to enter into collaboration with British distributor Edwin Tuckers. This will also enable small, local growers to produce all Rijk Zwaan varieties, when previously they could perhaps be ordered in large quantities only.
In addition, we are starting a brand-new demo field in Winchester next year, besides the existing demo locations in Welver, Germany, as well as Almería and Murcia in Spain.
We would not be taking all these steps if we did not believe in a great future for organic cultivation as, in spite of a slight stagnation as a consequence of the present economic situation, we are convinced that the trend for organic products is still rising. A common aim still has to be a reduction in the price difference between traditional and organic. By working on reliable varieties we, at Rijk Zwaan, are more than happy to play our part in this.
No comments yet