The UK organic market has seen strong growth this year as consumers become increasingly concerned about the state of the environment, the latest figures show.
NielsenIQ data for the year through September 25, 2021 shows that the organic market increased by 6.5%, which is less than last year’s 13% growth.
However, this year’s figures are in stark contrast to non-organic ones, whose sales have stalled for the past 12 weeks, according to the market research firm.
Organic sales online have continued their growth to 33%, while supermarkets, which accounted for 13% of total organic sales two years ago before the pandemic, have seen their share of total organic sales rise to 22 %.
The figures were presented at the Soil Association Certification Trade Conference, where delegates heard that non-organic food sales had slowed significantly after their ‘high lockdown’.
The trend toward organic food grew during the pandemic, it was heard at the conference, and retailers are now seeing an increase in demand for healthier and organic farm products.
Soil Association Certification director of business development Clare McDermott said organic sales had shown ‘phenomenal resilience’ after the growth they saw in 2020 at 12.6%.
“The latest increase in organic sales shows that the British public wants food produced with more, not less, care for the environment and animal welfare,” he said.
“Statistics show that buyers are looking for more well-being products that are produced with the environment in mind and want to support British farmers.
“We should seek to offer more benefits that agroecological agriculture, such as organic, can provide for wildlife, soils, people and the climate.”
The latest organic market report from the Soil Association Certification, released in February, shows that the UK organic market is now worth £ 2.79bn.