The Soil Association today announced the findings of its Organic Food and Farm Report, with winning results for fruit and veg.

Speaking at the Association's third national conference for organic food processors, Rob Haward, SA's horticulture manager described an 'exciting year with many positive developments' before revealing that fruit and vegetables topped the tables with an impressive thirty per cent retail share of what has become the fastest growing sector within food and drink.

But with 79 per cent of UK households now purchasing the healthy foods, Haward stressed: 'We still need to see a genuine commitment from the retailers and supermarkets to buy British first.' Jane Seabridge, client service director at Taylor Nelson Sofres said: 'Penetration growth is slowing down but Organics clearly outperforms all other similar sized categories. Last year growth was driven by more people entering the market. Now we need to know more about existing customers.' SA director, Patrick Holden added: 'This is an immensely positive report. It is clear that market penetration is reaching saturation and this research provides a fascinating insight into a dynamic market at an interesting time.

'In the long term we must ensure that consumers are more informed about issues because then they can make better purchasing decisions.'

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