British organic sales slumped 3.7 per cent in 2011, in stark contrast to the 8.8 per cent growth the organic sector achieved globally, the Soil Association has said.
The decline in UK purchases is blamed on a five per cent fall in sales at supermarkets, the Soil Association stated in its annual report, as the major multiples account for 71.4 per cent of organic food purchased.
But despite the disappointing figures, the body’s chief executive Helen Browning, speaking at last week’s Soil Association annual conference, called for the sector to move forward and said “let’s never fall victim to the hype that organic is over”.
“We must answer those critics who have portrayed us as Luddites... and overcome disease challenges in soft fruit and top fruit. We must build bridges with conventional farmers and scientists that are trying to solve the same problem as we are and learn from each other.”
Browning argued sales of branded organic products were positive, but said the UK needs to work harder to give confidence toretailers to keep organic food on the shelves and rein- vest in their own-label organic ranges.
“Retailer sales are down by five per cent and retailers’ own-label sales are down by an average 10 per cent,” she explained. “Many are now denying consumer choice by failing to offer options to their custom- ers. We know the high street is tough at the moment, but that’s true in other countries where the organic market is in double digit growth.
“I want to work really closely with retailers over the next year to try to reinvest that confidence in organics, to try and demonstrate that the economics of supporting organic food will stack up. That there is another way rather than pile it high and sell it cheap.”
The sector has seen more double-figure growth in the US and much of Europe, while in Brazil sales are up 40 per cent and are growing fast in Asian markets.
