Sales of organic fruit, bread, bakery and soft drink products and prepared foodstuffs plunged in 2008, while organic milk, cheese, meat and poultry showed strong growth, according to the Soil Association.
The organisation’s Organic Market Report 2009 claims in the organic sector, value sales of milk rose 10.6%, cheese was up 11.5%, meat sales increased 13.3% and poultry sales climbed by 17.7%. The trends were driven by shoppers’ concerns about animal welfare issues, the Soil Association said.
UK sales of organic products rose 1.7% to more than £2.1bn, according to the report, although the association added: “this statistic must be seen in the context of overall food price rises rather than sales volume increases”
Asda showed the strongest organic product sales growth of the multiple retailers, boosting sales by 25% and its share of the market from 8% to 10%. Tesco remained the market leader, although its organic product sales fell by 9.9%.
There had also been a focus on cutting waste and cooking from scratch. Sales of organic home cooking ingredients rose by 13.5%, while sales of organic prepared foods dropped sharply.
While sales of organic fruit, bread, bakery, soft drinks products and prepared foodstuffs had fallen, the Soil Association said some brands were still bucking the trend in these sectors.
Soil Association Policy director Peter Melchett said: “This report describes a very mixed picture as consumers react to the financial crisis. But those consumers who are committed to organic products appear to be staying loyal. This shows the underlying resilience of the organic market, which we believe will grow again once the economy picks up.”
Reacting to the report, grocery think tank IGD said: “The proportion of shoppers telling us that they look for organic food has fallen from 24% last year to 19% this year - but this is still higher than at any time before 2008.”
The organic market is the only ethical product sector seeing a decline in sales. Shoppers claimed ethical concerns were increasingly influencing their buying behaviour, according to the IGD’s Shopper Trends 2009 - Food Shopping in a Recession report.