Fall in Organic Sales Blamed on Multiples

The founder of the country's leading organic vegbox business has blamed "short-term, attention-grabbing" measures by supermarkets for a slowdown in the sector.

Riverford Organic Vegetables' Guy Watson criticised multiple retailers for a mostly "meaningless" adoption of environmental measures, such as biodegradable packaging and food miles, which has distracted potential customers.

Organic food to be re-branded 'budget' to beat credit crunch

Organic food is being re-branded as a "budget product" in an effort to stave off the credit crunch.

The market for food and vegetables produced without the use of chemicals has traditionally focused on more wealthy shoppers with celebrity fans including Prince Charles and Sting.
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However as the credit crunch bites spending on organic food and drinks fell 19 per cent in recent months to £81 million from an all time high of £100 million at the start of the year.

Organic food avoids credit crunch hit

WHILE the credit crunch may be forcing people to cut back on their spending, organic producers and farm shops have told how sales in their sector have not been adversely affected.

Organic sales continue to grow with no apparent dip in demand, according to the Soil Association, which certifies more than 80% of the UK's organic food.

Is organic food healthier?

Organic fruit and vegetables might not be healthier and not more nutritious than conventional goods, according to the German newspaper Welt online. Danish scientists of the University of Copenhagen cultivated carrots, cabbage, peas, apples and potatoes on nearby fields with comparable grounds by applying three different methods (organic, conventional, and combined), analyzed their nutrient content and fed the products to rats. “There was no systematic difference”, according to Ms. Bügel from the University of Copenhagen. The scientists came to the conclusion that organic fruit and vegetables did not contain more nutrients or micro elements and that resorption was not better. The climate seemed to be playing a much more important role than the way of cultivating food, according to scientists of the “Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture”.

Was the organic food revolution just a fad? Fear for farmers as shoppers tighten belts

From new mums worried about their children's health to foodies seeking the very finest products, consumers have embraced organic food with more enthusiasm than most environmental trends.

But now the British love affair with organics has stalled in the face of rising prices and tightening budgets as mortgage and fuel bills bite and fears rise over job losses.

Organic wine is twice as good for the planet

A new research has indicated that organic wine is twice as good as the non-organic variant for the planet, as the former is more eco-friendly.

According to a report in New Scientist, for the research, Valentina Niccolucci and colleagues from the University of Siena, Italy, measured the resources used to grow, package and distribute wine made from Sangiovese grapes at two farms in Tuscany 30 kilometers apart.

Organic farmers say they keep pests away with natural methods

Some local farmers say consumers must choose between produce coated in chemicals and produce infested with insects.

"I have customers tell me they want organic but then get all upset when they find one bug or blemish," said Ken Parker of Parker Farms. "They can't have it both ways."

Chocolate bar takes a bite out of climate change

The UK’s first fairtrade organic chocolate bar that also offers a sweet solution to climate change is to be launched in Waitrose stores this October.

For every bar of Organic Meltdown chocolate purchased, the World Land Trust (WLT) promises to save one tropical forest tree from being destroyed. To save a tree, consumers simply have to go to the Organic Meltdown website, type in the unique number inside the wrappers on each of the nine varieties of chocolate and zoom down using Google Earth onto the actual patch where the tree is located.

Price war looms on organic produce

The UK's biggest grocers will try to reinvigorate sales of organic food next week, following evidence that the organic market has suffered its sharpest fall for a decade.

After what had been a meteoric rise to annual sales of £1.3bn, according to the market research firm TNS Worldpanel, organic eggs' sales tumbled 18 per cent in the four weeks to 10 August, as customers opted for cheaper free range products, seen as ethical. A source at a big UK grocer admitted that sales of organic food were flat.

Tips for the cost-conscious

It's a tough choice for many of us - we want to avoid pesticides, support farmers who produce food organically, and eat healthy food, but we can't handle paying $6 for a bag of organic apples or nearly twice the price for a jar of organic peanut butter compared to the jar of Kraft.

Australians reach for organic alternatives

Australians are turning in ever increasing numbers to organic food as worried consumers become more aware of the health and environmental benefits of chemical-free fruit and vegetables.

Australia has the biggest area of land devoted to organic farming in the world, about 12 million hectares.