Organic food is coming back in UK. In the last years this sector suffered greatly from the crisis effects, with sudden slowdowns in growth trend. Sales dynamic has been surely influenced by the price war started by German discount chains, which lowered strategic interest in high-end premium offer. But now the British marketplace is clearly showing a trend reversal. In 2016, in fact, organic food and beverage sales have grown 7.1% in value reaching 2,09 billion pounds, 65% of which come from retail. According to Soil Association (Britain’s main certification company for organic food production) that’s the best result of the last decade, confirming the consumers’ renewed interest. The positive trend concerns all categories of products, from fruit and vegetables to dairies, without forgetting fish, olive oil, pasta and sauces.
THE MILLENNIALS’ CHOICE – Organic food is profiting from younger customers’ preferences. Millennials are more and more attracted by food health and quality, and pay attention to the origin of the raw materials and environmental sustainability. Meanwhile some retailers have expanded the assortment of products, and this led to more attractive prices. A choice somewhat backed by European Union, which continues to fund the supply chain in order to promote organic food in the UK.
TESCO SMILING – Among UK big retailers, Tesco is the one boasting the highest growth performances with a +15% organic products’ sales. Tesco’s organic fruit and vegetables sell out showed a +17% increase, together with a +16% organic olive oil, pasta and sauces sales. According to analysts, all these trends are set to grow in the coming months.
OCADO SKYROCKETING – Pure e-commerce player Ocado’s organic sales are growing too (+16%). The main competitor of Amazon Fresh can offer an overall assortment of 3,000 organic products.
