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Organics Booming in UK

The Independent (London)
March 22, 2002
BRITONS TOP LEAGUE OF ORGANIC CONSUMERS
BY: Matthew Beard

BRITONS ARE the biggest consumers of organic produce in Europe, with
more than half prepared to pay a higher price to try to avoid chemicals, a
survey has shown.

Last year, 29 million adults regularly ate or drank products
certified as meeting organic standards of production, research by the market
analysis firm Datamonitor found.

Shoppers said they were more likely to choose organic food for its
health benefits than because it might help to sustain the environment.
Britons were relatively slow to "go organic", but demand is now outstripping that
of the rest of Europe. Research into eating habits in seven European
countries showed 40 per cent of adults in Germany and 38 per cent in France regularly
chose organic products.

Dominik Nosalik, Datamonitor's consumer markets analyst, said:
"There will always be a niche group of altruistic consumers who are motivated to
buy green and ethical products for the greater good ... but more people are
buying 'green' because that is what makes them feel better." The report
suggested that businesses recognised that "while consumers want to derive dual
benefits from a product, the benefits for the individual need to be stronger than
the benefits of any given cause".

Spending on organic produce in Europe is forecast to double over the
next five years to EUR17bn (pounds 10.5bn). By that time 58 per cent of
European consumers will choose to eat organic food.

According to Datamonitor, organic consumers fall into two
categories: those who buy into the "organic ethos" and shop entirely for organic products;
and those who buy organics occasionally.

The Soil Association, the gatekeeper of organic food standards in
Britain, said demand for its approved goods rose by one third last year and the
market was now worth pounds 802m. The group forecast that sales would reach
pounds 1bn in Britain this year.

A spokeswoman for the association said: "The health benefits of
organic are well known, but consumers should not lose sight of the ethical
advantages. Farmers whose produce is approved by us work with nature rather than
aiming to exploit it."

Campaigners for organic food production point out that approved
farmers undertake to operate with minimum impact on the environment.

They use alternatives to the chemicals used in conventional farming,
which can have a detrimental effect on animals and hedgerows.

The Datamonitor report also revealed a slowdown in the growth of
vegetarianism. It said only 100,000 people became vegetarians between 2000 and
2001, the lowest increase since 1996.

The report said: "Although a core of loyal followers has developed
in certain countries such as the UK and Netherlands, vegetarianism is no longer
attracting so many new joiners. Many who joined in the late 1980s and early
1990s have abandoned vegetarianism as it has begun to lose its trendy appeal."
The number of vegetarians in Europe has risen by one million to 12 million
since 1996 but Datamonitor forecast that there would now be negligible future
growth.

The survey identified Britain as having the highest number of
consumers choosing to reduce the amount of meat in their diet because of
health concerns heightened by the BSE crisis. Britain and Germany have the greatest
proportion of "meat reducers" at 46 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.
Consumers in traditionally more carnivorous countries such as France
and Spain have reduced meat consumption and Datamonitor forecasts that the
number of Europeans reducing meat in their diet will increase by 11 million by
2006.