Real Business World reporting on business news and information

Tuesday 22 September 2009

Flagging sales in Organic produce - What needs to be done?

Supermarkets, producers and farmers claim that organic sales are down and that the recession is to blame. The ‘Organic Trade Board’ is going to meet to discuss how they will revive the organic market. They are aiming to increase sales by 50% by engaging with retailers and customers to promote the benefit of organic.

Statistics show that before the economy crash organic produce was doing well with high sales and a booming market. Ever since the crash it has got worse and worse as customers go with the cheaper options. I think there is more to it than just the economy because of the recent claims about the nutritional value of organic. It has the benefit of no pesticides and it also is very good for the environment because of the more natural growing methods which can work with nature. This is what I imagine they will be trying to promote.

Sales of organic vegetables are down 19% while demand for organic wine and bread sales have fallen to just half what it was a year ago.

However some organic products - such as milk and peanut butter - are still getting more popular.

The meeting will include representatives from Tesco, organic milk co-operative OMSCO, chocolate maker Green & Blacks, and yogurt firm Yeo Valley.

It will be interesting to see what adverts and campaigns the organic producers and retailers will come up with to try and get people buying organic. Would you buy organic?

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