Organic Sales Fall as Consumers Tighten Their Belts

Organic Sales Fall as Consumers Tighten Their Belts

Sales of organic food have fallen for the first time as consumers struggle to pay for more expensive produce in the recession.

April 13, 2010

Telegraph - For the last 17 years, the market for organic goods has grown every year, with the endorsement of celebrity chefs driving the increasing popularity of organic fruit, vegetables, dairy products and fresh meat in particular.

But according to today's figures from the Soil Association, sales fell last year by almost 13 per cent -- the first annual decline since it began keeping records in 1993.

The slump is being blamed on the recession, with cost-concious shoppers preferring supermarkets' budget ranges to organic food, which is generally more expensive than intensively farmed products.

Organic food has also fallen out of fashion amid growing doubts over whether it actually has more nutrients than conventionally-grown products.

The Soil Association's Organic Market Report found UK sales fell by 12.9 per cent in 2009 to £1.84 billion.

Fresh organic produce -- fruit, vegetables and meat -- were hit particularly hard as struggling households looked for cheaper options in the economic downturn. An organic chicken for example, can cost up to three times the price of a more conventionally-reared bird.

According to the report, sales of organic fruit and vegetable fell by 15 per cent, while sales of organic baked goods plummeted by almost 40 per cent.

Despite a number of television programmes by celebrity chefs, including Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, highlighting the conditions animals are kept in on intensive farms and urging people to by organic, sales of fresh meat fell by more than 20 per cent. Demand for organic chicken fell by 20 per cent, while sales of beef and lamb fell by 30 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Even home delivery organic boxes, that are a cheaper alternative to prooduce sold in supermarkets, suffered at 10 per cent fall. Independent shops saw sales fall by 18 per cent and supermarkets saw a 12 per cent slump.

Only organic products that are just a few pence more expensive than the alternative, such as milk and baby food, saw any growth in sales.

Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, blamed the recession. He said organic sales have seen double digit growth for almost every year since records began in 1993.

"The current economic climate is certainly the toughest the organic movement has faced for 20 years," he said ...