Okay, so it’s rapidly approaching the last day of 2008 (how did that happen so fast?) and I’m doing the obligatory clean-out of my email inbox, ready for the New Year.
It’s at this point I find all the interesting things that slid down the list away from me simply because they didn’t demand immediate attention. One such came from my colleague, Steven Jacobs (OF&G Development Offficer), and I think it’s worthy of flagging up here out of interest, even though it’s now about three months old.
So, to the point. It’s a piece from the Channel 4 website comparing the cost of organic versus non-organic food for the same recipe over the course of a year. What it clearly shows is the price differential reducing significantly. While the organic recipe remains the more expensive (though we would say this is simply the real price of food!), it’s fascinating to see the gap narrowing. Your thoughts on the various factors influencing this would be welcome in the comments.
Of course that was back in September and a lot has happened since then, economically speaking, so it could well be different now. It’ll be fascinating to see if C4 continue with this exercise as a neat little barometer of how the landscape may be changing.
It looks like the initiatives to cut down on plastic carrier bag use are starting to pay off, according to this piece from the Indy. That’s good news and it does seem that the supermarkets are taking it 
seriously - especially as you can’t go into one now without the cashier asking “do you need a carrier bag” in a tone that suggests that you’re little better than a Texas oil baron if you do.
Personally I forget to take a re-usable bag more often than not, but that’s the point isn’t it? Re-education. We have to learn new behaviours and we’ll all get there slowly.
Of course an alternative would be our highly sought-after compostable carriers, which are selling like hot cakes and won’t spend decades defacing hedgerows even if they are ‘given their freedom’ from a car window!
carrier, compost
Prophecies that Christmas might as well be canceled for retailers may be overblown, according to this report from FMCG (that’s Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) News.
While the piece is riddled with marketing speak, as you would expect from this specialist publication, the underlying message is that if you position your product right you could be on to a winner. It seems that the way to do that is to really connect with the mood of the consumer - what do they want from Christmas this year? The piece talks about folk looking for a more worthwhile, traditional and family-oriented yule. Can you see a place for organics in that? I can.
Savvy marketers in the organic sector should be able to latch on to this if they move quickly. If the idea chimes with you, take a close look at any advertising you have planned in the next couple of weeks. Could it be tweaked to be more relevant and appealing. Do your website messages need updating? Can you squeeze an editorial piece out of what your product has to offer by doing a news release focusing on ‘the organic Christmas’ and send it to your relevant newspapers?
Organics has a job to do in the current climate to keep customers understanding why they are sometimes putting their hands that bit deeper into their pockets. Let’s raise the game and get a good result.
Reports I’m getting from online retailers are positive. One talked of a completely flat November, but come the start of December the orders are coming back in. Christmas is not dead for retail, but a bit of first aid might not hurt…
If trading conditions for Whole Foods Market in the States is an indicator of how well organics will hold up in the current crunch, it’s latest trading figures could be a concern. But does the US market translate to the UK one? There will be different pressures on this side of the pond, but have we got a more loyal consumer base???
