The Organic Trade Board and Organic Denmark are set to receive €10.4 million’s worth of European funding over the next three years after their joint application was approved.
70% of the fund will be spent in the UK, the trade board said, with the rest being spent elsewhere. It cited figures that showed the UK’s organic market grew by 5.6% in 2016 to a value of £1.4 billion, and a share of total grocery sales of 1.8%. In contrast, the non-organic sector grew by only 0.6% in the same period.
But despite this, the country’s performance is far behind that of other European markets, including Denmark, where organic sales were up 18% in the second half of last year to account for 10% of all retail food sales. Average growth in organic sales across European countries is 9% per year.
“We know investment lifts the market – just this year Organic September helped sales reach and maintain 6% year-on-year growth. Building on this and existing work from the Organic Trade Board, the Soil Association and the wider organic industry, we can now further improve awareness of organic. The next three years will be an exciting time for the sector.” Soil Association business development director Clare McDermott said.
And Organic Denmark marketing director, Henrik Hindborg said: “Denmark has become the world’s leading organic nation, with organic food sales representing 10% of all food sales in 2016, moving organic from ‘niche’ to ‘mainstream’. We have had ten years of consistent growth, with half of all Danes now buying organic food every week. This has been achieved through a combination of effective organic policies and close co-operation with Danish retailers. We are looking forward to working alongside our British counterparts and sharing our joint enthusiasm and expertise.”
