Tuesday 24 February 2015 17:17

Organic food and drink is showing signs of recovery, as consumers spending power recovers following the recession. These five key points summarise the markets current position.

Between 2008 and 2011 sales fell by almost a quarter,dropping from a peak of 2.1bn to 1.6bn.

Since then, there has been steady recovery, with two successive years of growth. Sales climbed 4% in 2014, according to the Soil Associations latest market report. This was set against a decline in the overall food and drink market of 1.1%.

The drivers of this growth are online and so-called box schemes, such as that run by Abel & Cole. It is being bought about by a young demographic thats web-savvy, health conscious and concerned about the provenance of food.

See also:Organic conversion if the price is right

Dairy is the overall top performer, accounting for 27.9% of total organic sales. Branding and increased availability were cited as reasons for its success. It grew some 6.8% in 2014.

It is also a success story in the catering sector. This was worth around 55m in sales in 2014, and milk accounted for about half of that. Headline buyers include McDonalds and coffee chain Pret A Manger.

Eggs also saw strong sales growth, topping almost 16%. This is a sector which many thought had been killed off during the recession, with all but a hard core of consumers switching out of organic into free range.

Poultrymeat was also noted as an area of strong growth. A representative from Waitrose said it was the top-performing category for organic poultry, with sales increasing 19% last year.

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Key market facts for anyone considering organic farming