Van links naar rechts: Stephanie Beavis, Organic Manager Elsoms, en Luke King, Operations Director Riverford.
ORGANIC IN THE UK:
OPPORTUNITIES OUTWEIGH CHALLENGES
fltr: Stephanie Beavis and Luke King
WHILE ORGANIC PRODUCE MAY NOT ALWAYS BE SEEN IN THE SAME MAINSTREAM LIGHT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AS IT IS IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE, IT STILL FORMS AN IMPORTANT AND INCREASINGLY LARGE SEGMENT OF AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE COUNTRY. According to government statistics, the total area of land farmed organically in the UK in 2020 was 489,000 hectares. The figure has been rising steadily over the last few years. Although most of that land is permanent grassland or used to grow cereals, vegetables are important too, accounting for 8,100 hectares (including 700 hectares of land that is currently being converted for organic production). Stephanie Beavis, Organic Manager at Elsoms – the supplier that markets all Bejo’s vegetable seeds in the UK – points out that organic production has been increasing steadily here since 2014, and the latest statistics showed an 11.6% increase in 2020 in the area of land being converted to organic production.
Voting with their pocketbooks “Even more positive than the increase in production is the rise in consumer demand for organic products,” Beavis says. That demand has risen every year since 2011. In 2020, total sales of organic products reached
a record high of £2.79 billion. That represents a 12.6% rise on the previous year, meaning organic outperformed non-organic, Beavis says. “According to the Soil Association, which compiled the figures, this equates to a weekly spend of £50 million, and the market is on target to reach £2.9 billion by end of 2021.” In supermarkets, organic sales went up by 12.5%, with fresh produce showing a rise of 15.5%. “A general increase in the consumption of fruit and vegetables has benefited both organic and conventional producers,” Beavis says. “Although the organic sector has always been an important market for Elsoms, in response to this growing demand we have increased our investment and focus on organics, including areas such as seed storage and the way in which we work with Bejo to identify varieties which will work well for organic production in the UK.”
The effects of Covid-19 The Covid-19 pandemic has changed people’s shopping patterns around the world, and the >>
BEJO ORGANIC MAGAZINE
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