What are the prospects for organic food and drink?
- The headline figure from the Soil Association Organic Report for 2026 is that the UK organic market is now worth £3.9 bn at retail with the sector having been in annual growth for the last 14 years
- 83% of households buy organic throughout the year
- There were twice as many shopping trips involving organic in 2025 as there were in 2022
- Nearly one quarter (23%) of organic shoppers buy online
- Total UK organic market is +7% by volume (total food retail is +4.3%) and +1.2% by volume (total food retail is +0.3%)
- Supermarkets grew sales by 7% to £2.6 bn giving them 67.6% of the UK market
- Home delivery including box schemes is 19.5%, food service is 5.3% and independent retailers are at 13.2%
- Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado continue to over-trade in organics
- Ocado and M&S have grown market share by focussing on range availability – Ocado now has over 3000 organic lines and Waitrose has relaunched its Duchy Organic range
- Tesco have redesigned their organic range and have introduced block merchandising
- Morrisons have introduced a dedicated online organic shop
- There is a four stage model for organic consumption: entry point (carrots, bananas, milk) > scratch cooking (store cupboard) > elevating the everyday (beef, chicken, wine) > committed organic consumer.
- 55% of all organic sales come from eggs, milk, yoghurt, fresh fruit, fresh veg, salad and babyfood
- Global organic retail market is +5% at 145bn Euros: Netherlands is +9.6%, Norway +7.8%, Germany +5.7% and Italy +4.5%.
- With UK organic sales at only 1.6% of total food sales we have room to grow: in Switzerland it is 12.3%, Denmark is 11.6% and Austria 11.4%
UK Data provided by Nielsen IQ
Why are consumers buying organic ?
There is a move towards more natural / wholefoods to avoid
- Pesticides
- PFAS (‘forever chemicals’)
- Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs)
What are the laws covering the supply of organic products?
In the EU, legislation covers all aspects of organic food and drink production. Initially this took the form of EU regulation 2092/91 (1991), which was translated into national legislation as the UK Organic Products Regulation (1992). This legislation lays down in detail how organic food must be produced, processed and packaged to qualify for the description ‘organic’.
In 1999, EC regulation 1804/1999 extended the initial EU organic regulations to cover livestock production (meat, eggs, poultry and dairy). In 2006-7 the regulation 2092/91 underwent a review, addressing the presence of genetically modified (GM) materials in organic food and the role of private organic certifying bodies. The European Commission adopted a new EU organic regulation 834/2007 in 2007. The main changes were:
- Description of organic objectives and principles for the first time
- Scope extended to cover aquaculture, wine, seaweed, yeast
- Procedure for approving new substances as organic
- Principles for food and feed processing
- Risk-based inspection criteria
- More flexible import criteria
- Labelling – 70% limit removed
- GM ingredients permitted at up to 0.9% (although the Soil Association and Organic Farmers & Growers are staying with an upper limit of 0.1% GM)
This regulation came into effect in 2009. A mandatory EU logo was implemented through regulation 271/2010, published in 2010.
How is the law policed?
The organic products regulation requires that anyone who wishes to produce organic food must first register with a certification body. In the UK there are currently eight such bodies, the best known of which are the Soil Association (Certification Code GB-ORG-05) and Organic Farmers & Growers (GB-ORG-02).
The certification body is responsible for ensuring that anyone who wants to produce organic food understands the legislation and has the necessary procedures and systems in place.
The organic products regulation is enforced by local authority trading standards officers. All other legislation that applies to non-organic food also applies to organic food production.
What are the stages to becoming a certified organic processor?
- Fill out the initial application form supplied by the certification body. Note that on the initial application it is necessary to list the recipes of the anticipated launch range of products. It is relatively straightforward to make changes and add additional products at a later date.
- The certification body sends an inspector to inspect the manufacturing premises. In an operation where both organic and non-organic products are manufactured, the major point of concern is that there is no contamination from non-organic to organic. All systems and physical procedures need to be designed to achieve separation by space (production lines dedicated to organic production) or time (organic production following a full clean-down).
- The inspector submits a report to the certification committee of the certification body. If the report is approved, a certificate is issued; the operation can then begin supplying organic products and using the symbol of the certification body on-pack. Note that it is illegal to produce organic food and drink without first going through this procedure.
- The certification body carries out an annual inspection of premises, systems and production records to ensure all of these procedures are followed.
Do products have to be totally organic?
Under the new EU organic legislation, the former special emphasis category has been discontinued. This means products labelled as organic must contain a minimum of 95% organic ingredients by weight.
The regulation specifies the following:
- Only certain non-organic ingredients can be used and these are specified in Annex VI.
- If a particular ingredient is not available in organic form it is possible to apply for derogation to use the non-organic version for a limited period.
- Some ingredients, such as water, need not be organic.
- The use of artificial or irradiated ingredients is specifically prohibited.
Brexit
- The transition away from EU organic regulations has been a complex process for the UK
- Prior to Brexit, British organic producers adhered to EU-wide standards, ensuring seamless trade and recognition across member states. .
- Since Brexit, regulatory divergence has occurred as the EU has continued to develop its organic legislation and the UK has not
- In 2025 the UK government announced it would no longer attempt to develop its own organic regulation but would instead attempt to modify the SPS (Sanitary and PhytoSanitary) Agreement to permit the easier flow of organic products between the UK and the EU in both directions