Rob Sexton, chief executive of the Soil Association, urged the coalition to follow the EU’s lead and provide the necessary backing to help the industry change the way consumers in the UK view organic food.
He told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “The key is clearly innovation. We need support from government to provide a systematic approach to prove what we all know; that the organic market in the UK is a great industry.
“But, unlike the EU, we seem to look at the world in a different way. Governments in the EU have appropriate systems set up to support their approach to the way they eat. The prevalence in the EU can only be ignored for so long. I think CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] reform will help, but the industry will need government backing.”
European counterparts
His calls followed the launch of the Soil Association’s 2012 organic market report, which revealed sales in the UK market to be significantly lower than many of its European counterparts.
Global sales of organic products also continued to defy the economic downturn, growing by 8.8% in 2010, with growth continuing into 2011.
But Sales of organic products in the UK fell by 3.7% last year to £1.6bn, as a result of falling sales at the large retailers, the report revealed.
This was driven by the retailers cutting shelf-space for organic products and a “striking” lack of investment in own-label organic ranges, reflected by minimal marketing activity.
In contrast to the slump in the UK market, all the main European markets saw increases in sales and expected to see double-digit growth for 2012. Growing markets, such as Italy and Holland, were also expected to rise, according to the Soil Association.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) recognised the importance of the organic food market in the UK and claimed that support for the industry was on-going.
Increased production
A spokeswoman told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “The government recognises that organic farming can be one of the approaches to increasing production in a sustainable way.
“DEFRA supports organic food production through funding of the Organic Entry Level Stewardship Scheme, which offers payments to farmers who manage all or part of their land organically.”
Finn Cottle, trade consultant at the Soil Association, agreed that support from government was required to change the way organic food was viewed in the UK. She also called on the industry as a whole to increase communication with consumers.
She said: “We need a strong supportive government framework to increase communication with our customers. This needs to be led by the retailers as they are closest to the consumers. But this must be supported by the brands.”
This view was supported by Ben Cull, marketing director of organic firm Yeo Valley. He claimed that the UK market could only improve but that retailers would play a key role in any resurgence.
He said: “The only way is up for the industry. I do think we have a strange mind-set in this country now but we can change this.
“The shelves [of the retailers] are important. The key is getting our products on them. The more space we have on the shelves, the more we can sell.”
Cull also acknowledged the role that organic firms had to play and claimed that Yeo Valley had “taken a good look” at itself.
“We’ve made our marketing and packaging more attractive to consumers to give them what they really want,” he added.