Sales of organic food broke through the £3.05 billion barrier in 2021, says a recent report released today (9), adding that independent retailers are leading the way in this segment.
According to Soil Association’s annual organic market report, nearly £60m a week is now spent on organic food and drink in the UK, with a particularly continued strong performance for online and box schemes, which together delivered growth of 13 percent worth £558m.
This is the 10th consecutive year of growth and it was slightly more modest at 5.2 percent. Last year’s report mentioned £2.79 billion
total sales of organic in the country.
But the challenge remains for UK farmers and supply chains to step up and meet this rising demand with British produce, rather than imports, states the report.
The organisation has called for fairer, shorter supply chains that prioritise nutritious food over cheap, ultra-processed food, and which fairly rewards farmers.
Soil Association certification business development director Clare McDermott said, “Despite challenges across all aspects of production, supply and the market, organic businesses have shown phenomenal resilience and responded to continually increasing shopper demand for products that support both health and the environment.
“Shoppers are increasingly looking for products that reflect their values and organic is meeting that need.”