What are the prospects for organic food and drink?
- The headline figure from the Soil Association Organic Report for 2024 is that the UK organic market now worth £3.2 bn at retail
- Supermarkets (+2.7% year-on-year) and independent retailers (+10%) are back in growth, although inflation means there has been a slight volume decline
- Supermarkets that overtrade in organic are Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado: Lidl is doing very well from a low base
- 22% of all organic supermarket sales are made online, compared to 11% of total supermarket sales made online
- Ambient grocery is now 15.3% of organic sales (+3.1%)
- Global organic retail market is +8% at 134billion Euros
- Food service held market value but the cost-of-living crisis led to a tough year for home delivery (-6%) and beauty and wellbeing
- The IGD Shopping Consumer Index is bouncing back from a low in August 2022 which will be good for organic sales
- UK organic farmland is not keeping pace with consistent market growth: EU has achieved 10% of farming land certified as organic, in the UK we are stuck at 3%
- The Soil Association symbol now recognised by 32% of UK consumers
Why are consumers buying organic ?
July 2022 interviews with 1000 organic consumers reveal that the desire to shop sustainably remains, albeit modified by cost of living concerns. 47% said they planned to buy the same amount of organic food as at present.
Top three sustainability concerns given were
- Excessive packaging
- More natural food
- Being able to trust food and drink manufacturers
A similar piece of research carried out in July 2021 revealed that the top six reasons organic consumers gave for buying organic were
- No pesticides
- Better for the environment
- Perceived better quality
- Taste is better
- Better animal welfare
- Perceived health benefits
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.
New Legislation Approved by European Parliament
In April 2018 The European Parliament approved new rules that aim to provide consumers with “certainty” over the quality of organic products and support growing organic production within the EU.
Key points:
- A clearer definition of organic production to include soil, seeds, animal welfare and production methods
- Risk-based checks throughout the organic supply chain
- Single standard for imports into the EU, spot-checks to monitor products imported from outside the EU
- Support to boost EU organic production through group certification of small farms
Brexit Update December 30th 2020
From John Harper, Organics and Environmentally Friendly Farming Team, DEFRA