UK supermarket Tesco has announced that it is drastically reducing the price of organic produce by up to 25 per cent, in response to feedback from consumers who are feeling the effects of the credit crunch.
The European Commission has launched a campaign to inform consumers of the benefits of organic food and support those involved in the ever-growing organic market.
A debate has ignited over the nutritional benefits of organic produce compared to conventional, with recent analysis disputing claims of its nutritional superiority.
UK company Ulrick & Short has received new Soil Association
accreditation for two of its products, allowing it to market these
already clean label ingredients as organic.
Barry Callebaut has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Biolands of
Tanzania, Africa's largest exporter of certified organic cocoa,
after purchasing 100 per cent of its top-end cocoa for the past
eight years.
Irish firm Kerry Ingredients has responded to the growth of
organics in the United States by expanding its organic ingredient
product range across the board, the firm announced yesterday.
The US organic market remains on track for strong growth over the
next five years, according to a new report by Mintel, which claims
that the increased availability of organic foods through mainstream
channels is set to change the...
UK sales of organic food have risen by 30 per cent this year to
almost £1.6bn (€2.3bn) according to a new report from the Soil
Association - and bakery manufacturers are catching the trend.
The rise of organic food is a knee-jerk reaction to consumer health
fears, and threatens to unhelpfully steer us away from improving
the quality of food generally.
A European supplier of organic flavour extracts has added a range
of new ingredients to its portfolio, designed to produce a cleaner
label and boost the profile of organic products in the eyes of
consumers.
British food retailers and suppliers have developed a growing
commitment to domestically produced organic food, as consumers
insist on more environment-friendly production practices.
Britain needs more organic dairy producers to meet rapidly growing
demand for organic milk, says a new report, offering new
opportunities for the industry.
Britain's major supermarkets are today being blamed for distorting
the organic primary produce market, forcing 300 Scottish farmers to
switch to conventional agricultural practices to stay in business.
Consumers opt to buy organic food because it tastes better, so
claims a recent survey from the UK's organic body the Soil
Association, putting increasing pressure on the food makers to
perfect their formulations.
Toronto based SunOpta said yesterday it had acquired all of
Cleugh's Frozen Foods, a processor of natural and organic frozen
fruits and vegetables, for an undisclosed sum.
Low-carb specialist Sunset Brands has become the second company in
a week to move in to America's rapidly growing organic food sector
after signing a deal for organic snack and cereal producer US
Mills, reports Chris Mercer.
House of Bread Franchising has finally decided to start producing
organic bread after a decrease in ingredient prices makes
production a viable business option, reports Philippa
Nuttall.
A new deal between organic food retailers and farmers may help to
bridge the gulf between low organic food consumption and rising
levels of organic farming in the Czech Republic and Poland,
writes Chris Mercer.
In line with growing consumer demand for organic products, Butter
Buds Food Ingredients has introduced a certified organic line of
natural butter, cream and cheese concentrates.
Czech shoppers are refusing to pay inflated prices for organic food
- something which may burst the bubble of the country's booming
organic farming industry, unless a sharp increase in government
subsidies can turn the situation...
Organic food is not necessarily better for our health than
conventional equivalents, say food scientists speaking at a meeting
of the world's largest science society this week in the US.
Europe's organic food and farming sector got a major boost this
week with the adoption by the European Commission of a new action
plan to promote the sector. The challenge will be to ensure, and
maintain, consumer trust in premium-priced...
Production inspections carried out on organic manufacturers in
Finland last year revealed that some were using conventionally
produced sugar in their products. More worryingly, many companies
have not installed adequate tracing systems.
A new report suggests that competition in the European organic meat
industry is increasing, as the market begins to suffer from
overcapacity. This follows another report that linked the
popularity of organic meat in North America...
Britain's supermarkets are not doing enough to support the
country's organic farming industry, buying in produce from abroad
despite sufficient supplies in the domestic market, claims the Soil
Association. But there are...
German consumers eat more organic food than their counterparts in
both France and Britain combined, according to a new report from
market analysts Mintel. The German market alone is worth
more than €3.2 billion, but significant future...
The largest US organic and natural food retailer Whole Foods Market
(WFM) has this week entered the European market with the
acquisition of British group Fresh & Wild for $38 million.
Whole Foods Market, the largest natural and organic food retailer
in the US, is to make its first entry into the UK with the
acquisition of Fresh & Wild, a London-based company which
operates a small chain of natural food stores.
Around 72 per cent of Spanish consumer say they have eaten organic
food products at some time in the past, but the evidence suggests
that overall consumption of organic food is still low.
As if to confirm the Datamonitor report on organic food sales which
we reported on last week, the UK's Soil Association has this week
issued its own report showing that the British organic market is
alive and kicking, growing...
Organic food sales in the UK are set to grow by 12 per cent by
2007, reaching €2.6bn. But this is still half the size of the
German market, with further growth still hampered by the high
prices and dubious claims about the alleged...
Spain is one of the biggest producers of organic food in Europe,
but the vast majority of its output is exported. Domestic shoppers
are put off by the high price of organic food and by the fact that
it is frequently hard to find,...
The organic food industry in Germany continued to grow last year,
despite a nitrofen contamination scandal. The Anuga food exhibition
in Cologne next month will feature thousands of organic food
products which show that there is still...
Europeans may be among the strongest opponents of GM foods, but
that does not mean that they are big supporters of organic food,
increasingly seen as an alternative to GM. Organic food sales
growth in western Europe is slowing, but...
A national promotional scheme has boosted sales of organic food in
the US, but sales in Europe were sluggish at best last year after a
high-profile scandal in Germany reduced consumer confidence,
according to a new report from Organic...
Growing confidence and consumer awareness are the main driving
forces behind the continued growth of the European organic food
market. According to the Global New Products Database an increasing
number of new product launches is continuing...
It is 10 years since Switzerland's Coop launched its Naturaplan
organic food range, but the successes of the first decade are
nothing compared to the big plans for the scheme in the years to
come.
Europe's organic meat industry is nearing overcapacity, according
to new research by Organic Monitor. Large volumes of organic meat
products are flooding a market that is showing signs of slowing
down.
Organic food products such as Yeo Valley yoghurts and Green and
Black's chocolate are leading the way in packaging design - a
lesson which other organic producers would do well to learn.
Retailers in the UK are increasing their organic food offering all
the time, especially as consumers become increasingly concerned
about the safety of much of the food they eat. But playing on these
fears to advertise and promote...
Despite being one of the most important organic food markets in
Europe, German consumer confidence in the organic sector was
seriously undermined by last year's nitrofen scandal - leaving the
country's producers with an...
Four European research institutes have joined forces to found a new
research association that aims to encourage, co-ordinate and
disseminate research in the field of organic food and health.
The United States Department of Agriculture has implemented a
long-awaited standard for the production and distribution of
organic foods, mirroring specific European legislation already
introduced.
A survey recently published by Whole Foods Markets in the US
reveals that on the eve of the national standards for organic
product labelling being implemented, two-thirds of organic shoppers
(68 per cent) are relying primarily on...
