Supply hold back growing British organics market

Seven in ten Brits have bought organic produce over the last year, and sales of organic food are now worth £1.5 billion, up by 70% since 2002. During this time, an increase in growing awareness of food miles has shifted people's focus towards locally sourced organic produce. As a result of this, imported varieties now account for just 30% of the market, which is down from 70% in 2002. MINTEL believes that this dramatic shift towards British organic food has created serious supply issues for the organic industry, with not enough British grown organic food to satisfy demand. David Bird, senior market analyst at MINTEL, said: "The lengthy conversion process from regular to organic farming takes several years to complete. Because of this many producers have not been able to react quickly to satisfy the growing demand for home organic food." Although, MINTEL predicts that as new producers slowly enter the market and more land becomes available for organic growing, the market will increase in value by 54% over the next five years, with the market set to break through the £2 billion mark by 2011. Organic box schemes have also seen an increase of 109% in the last two years alone, with the market now worth some £150 million.