Soil Association Certification’s Organic Market Report 2021 reveals the UK’s organic market is now worth £2.79 billion, after a 12.6% growth in sales in 2020.
The market has now reached its highest growth rate in 15 years, outperforming growth in the nonorganic sector. During 2020 more than £50m per week was spent on organic food and drink.
Soil Association Certification’s annual UK Organic Market Report 2021 reveals:
- Organic market year on year sales growth has reached 12.6% in 2020, outperforming growth in the non-organic sector
- This is the highest year on year growth rate in the organic market since 2005, with a 10th consecutive year of growth. The market is on target to reach £2.9B by end of 2021.
- Total sales of organic hit £2.79 billion, meaning more than £50m per week was spent on organic in 2020, as shopping needs and habits changed dramatically due to the pandemic.
- Online and home delivery sales fuelled much of the growth in the organic market in 2020, with sales increasing by 36.2%, meaning this channel to market accounts for almost 25% of the total sales (supermarket online sales are included)
- Sales of organic items in supermarkets increased by 12.5%* with many categories showing growth over 20%
Huge opportunity
Finn Cottle, Trade Consultant, Soil Association Certification, said, “The unprecedented crisis of 2020 has brought immense challenges across the entire food supply chain – not least for organic businesses. So, it’s significant that in times of crisis, people are turning to organic products for the assurance of transparency, integrity and quality they provide. Organic is now rightfully recognised as the cornerstone of a resilient food and farming system and a vital part of the solution to the climate, nature and health crises. With people spending more time at home preparing and planning meals, many shoppers are also appreciating the incredible range of organic options that are available online, with stand-out growth of 36.2% in this channel. With the organic market growing faster than ever and expected to reach £2.9 billion by the end of 2021, there is a huge opportunity for organic businesses to innovate and continue growing the market.”
While shopping trips became more planned and less frequent, consumers increased interest in good quality and healthy food helped to drive sales of organic.
Soil Association Certification research (July 2020) found that people most associate ‘organic’ with safe and fully traceable food with less pesticides, and no genetically modified organisms. The report reveals stand-out growth in organic via online and home delivery at +36.2%.
Online channels
With almost 1 in 4 organic products purchased online in 2020, the organic online and home delivery channel reached close to £500M, surpassing independent retailer sales for the first time. Increased interest in online shopping and box schemes both for ease and choice during the pandemic has driven up customer numbers, orders and sales for many operators, substantially strengthening the success of this longstanding organic channel.
Laura Henderson, Head of Buying Fresh & Frozen from Ocado said, “We saw a marked increase in the sale of our organic food and drink products at Ocado over the past year. Our new partnership with Marks and Spencer increased the number of organic products available, taking our total to more than 4,000. This is considerably more than other grocery retailers and we’re delighted to offer our customers such variety of choice – all with the effortless convenience of shopping online.”
Rob Haward, Managing Director of organic veg box company, Riverford, said, “Riverford was already experiencing strong growth early in 2020, before Covid, driven by a desire for more organic and plant-based eating. In the face of the surge in demand we experienced during the pandemic we reduced our range back to veg boxes to meet our customers’ needs and limit our sales to new customers. We are now building back up to a narrower more veg-focused range. Even with these measures in place our sales increased by more than 40% compared to the prior year, and sales are remaining at these high levels as the continuing restrictions on people’s lives drive strong demand for home delivery of fresh organic food.”
Organic retail
The organic market is now on track to reach £2.9 billion by the end of 2021, with many new organic shoppers expected to remain loyal to the sector as they look to support a food and farming system that supports a safe climate, better biodiversity and improved health. The report also shows strong growth in organic supermarket sales at +12.5%. Categories which experienced increased sales include: produce, which have grown by 15.5%; canned and packaged items, which have grown by 19.8%; meat, fish and poultry, which have grown by 16.8%; chilled foods which have grown by 22.2% and beers, wines and spirits, which have grown by 32.9%.
Independent retailers faced mixed fortunes. Whereas several city centre stores closed, high street and community stores experienced huge increases, with citizens choosing to shop locally. Overall this amounted to a +0.9% rise in the organic market through independent retail.
Foodservice took a hit due to closures in the private sector, with an overall decline of -23.2%, although sales of organic into public procurement continued at a stable level. Growth in the organic market was also reported across Beauty and Wellbeing and Textiles. Sales of Soil Association Certification-certified beauty and wellbeing products grew by 13%, to reach a total £120.2 million in 2020. Sales of Soil Association Certification-certified organic textiles grew by 9%, to be worth £49.5 million, despite a 20% decline in global fashion sales in 2020. Soil Association Certification’s Organic Market Report 2021 is sponsored by Triodos, one of the world’s leading sustainable banks.
Reference document
The Organic Market Report is the only comprehensive report covering the organic market in the UK today. Produced annually by Soil Association Certification, it is an essential read and reference document for anyone involved with organic in the UK. The report takes a detailed look at the organic market, including updates on the performance of organic in supermarkets, independent retailers, the food service sector and home delivery, and gives expert insight into the trends behind the data.
The report is free for Soil Association Certification licensees and costs £100+VAT to purchase for non-licensees. Soil Association Certification is a wholly owned subsidiary which certifies over 70% of all organic products sold in the UK. Certifying organic food and farming since 1973, and more recently, organic textiles, health and beauty products, the team has built up extensive practical experience and provides unrivalled support before, during and after certification.
It also audits other schemes within catering and forestry, including the Organic Served Here scheme, and the FSC and PEFC forestry standards internationally, delivering assurances of quality and provenance that industry and consumers can trust. Its Chief Executive is Martin Sawyer and its independent board is chaired by Nick Buckland.
The Soil Association was founded in 1946 by farmers, scientists, doctors and nutritionists to promote the connection between the health of the soil, food, animals, people and the environment. Today the Soil Association is the UK’s leading membership charity campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. Its Chief Executive is Helen Browning, and Chair of Trustees is Martin Nye.
