Some 83 per cent of Britons now buy organic food, dispelling the common misconception that organic food is only for the small minority who are totally committed to organic principles, according to Organic Trade Board (OTB) findings.

The OTB, a group of key organic producers, carried out research to investigate Britain’s attitude towards organic food. The research is the first part of a major generic campaign which is being planned for 2010 to make organic more accessible to the general public and drive greater general awareness of the benefits of organic food.

The OTB research supports a recent Mintel report which found organics are now mainstream and Tesco reported that a quarter of their customers buy organic products once a month.

Consumer demand and increased awareness about the benefits of organic food and farming have meant that major retailers have taken notice and organic ranges are now widely available in supermarkets, according to the OTB, which found that 64 per cent of respondents buy organic food from supermarkets.

A Tesco spokesman said: “Tesco stocks more than 700 organic lines, covering 11 food and drink categories. Our largest ranges are within produce and health and beauty, which also represent the greatest proportion of our organic sales. Since summer 2009, we have seen some of our organic carrot lines nearly double their sales. Our ultimate aim is to make sure that we offer the greatest variety of organic choice across our stores.”

The OTB research found the main reasons for buying organics were its “naturalness”, restricted use of pesticides, wellbeing, environmental and wildlife reasons. Some 30 per cent cited “better taste” as a reason to buy organics, despite Foods Standards Agency research last year which showed organics taste no better than conventional food.

The OTB research also showed that less than seven per cent of people actually think that organic means ‘smarter/posher’, so organic appears to be shrugging off its label of exclusivity. In fact, the 2009 Organic Market Report by the Soil Association showed that C2, D and E social groups now represent 50 per cent of organic consumers.

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