As all of the doom and gloom headlines predicting the recession-related death of the organic sector start to fade into the mists of time, we may now being seeing some more reliable figures that tell something closer to the true story.
We said all along that, not forgetting the pain of pig and poultry producers, the sector as a whole was operating on a fairly even keel. Yes, there has been hardship, along with the rest of the economy, but we haven’t seen anything like the wholesale shutdown of organics. And nor would we have expected to.
Now research body, Organic Monitor, has taken a look at the figures over the longer term and highlighted some of the patterns around Europe, as reported here by FoodNavigator.com.
What the data seems to highlight is that some UK retailers pre-empted their organic customers by assuming they would buy less organic products and promptly whipping many lines from the shelves. That’s a self-fulfilling prophecy of falling sales, of course. But as demand failed to follow their sales prediction charts down to the bottom of the cliff, they’ve had to ramp-up their offerings again.
Organic Monitor suggests single digit growth for organics across Europe in 2009. I think anybody in the industry would have taken that if it was offered as a guarantee at the start of the year. While UK organics was apparently among the worst hit, it’s still kicking and preparing to take on 2010 with renewed vigour.
Last night was a big one for licensee, Jess Vaughan, who featured prominently in BBC2’s Hairy Bikers’ Twelve Days of Christmas.
Jess (left) and her friend sing to the nation!
The well-known two wheeled cooks whipped up what they described as one of their best ever dishes on a makeshift kitchen in one of Jess’s Gloucestershire fields.
And why were they there? “It’s the only place to go for cream. It’s the best there is, man.” A ringing endorsement indeed!
The pair went on to praise the quality of the cream from Jess’s Ladies numerous times and credited it with making their Christmassy Panacotta the special dish they profess it to be.
Jess explains what makes her milk and cream so good and gets to try out the finished food – not to mention indulging in a spot of festive singing… Very brave on national telly, but nicely done!
Jess told us the rather large film crew spent a whole day on the farm and that she loved the experience.
You can take a look for yourself on the BBC iPlayer (until they remove it). Jess’s part starts at 39′58″, if you don’t want to watch all of it…
Just as an addendum to the last post; the Facebook page for the EU organic logo competition, containing just some examples of the entries, makes for interesting viewing.
It’s only a tiny fraction of the 3400 or so total hopefuls, but it at least gives some insight into some of the options we’re not being given the chance to vote on.
Today we see an interesting take on the EU organic logo vote, with one German lawyer suggesting that people vote ‘no’ by emailing the Commission.
A ‘no’ option has not been made available on the voting page – you have to choose one of the shortlisted options. Quoted in a piece on the Organic-Market.info website, the lawyer in question, Hans-Peter Schmidt, raises some interesting concerns about the choices and the process that led to them.
At the time of writing there have been just short of 30,000 votes on the official website.
Will you be voting? Or even voting ‘no’?
It’s really good to hear that Waitrose has put its weight behind the OrganicUK campaign to fund a three-year promotional bid for organics with EU matched funding.
We’ve been behind the initiative from day one, as have many of the country’s leading organic brands, not to mention an array of farmers and smaller processors.
Having bust through its £250,000 pledge target (in fact exceeding it by about £17k as of now) the organisers at Sustain are now pressing on to try and reach £300,000. Every penny will count because it can be matched with the EU money that’s available if the bid succeeds.
Many other EU member states have taken advantage of the cash over the last few years, some multiple times, but we’ve never got our act together in the UK – until now.
The bid would see a campaign highlighting the key benefits of organic food and farming across different media and utilising PR and social networks.
Well done to Waitrose for giving its backing to the sector in such a tangible way and there’s still time for others to get on board as well. It’s for everyone’s benefit.
So now we know what the compulsory EU organic logo could look like. But after all the (excruciating) build-up, it has to be said that the response here at the Old Estate Yard is one of being distinctly underwhelmed by the options.
We have three shortlisted finalists from a quite impressive 3422 entries. The trouble is, they all seem to be a bit dull and uninformative.
That’s not to be unkind to the artists who created them, who no doubt put in a lot of thought and effort, but this is a BIG thing for organics. Not only is it the introduction of a compulsory logo for the first time, but it should be an opportunity to strike a chord with consumers and create something that is instantly recognisable and understood as organic. We don’t really think any of the three chosen by the judges are going to achieve that.
What do you think?
These are your choices for the EU organic logo. So which will it be???
Even if you’re thinking “my five-year-old could have come up with something more exciting”, these are the options we’ve got. So, which will you vote for? It’s open to every EU citizen (though how they can rule out mischievous votes from beyond the Euro borders is hard to say…).
There is, I think, a clear favourite in our office, but everyone needs to cast their vote before the end of January, which you can do here:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/logo/voting/voting_en.htm
Choose wisely…
[For details on the new labeling regulations, take a look at this page on our website. You can also follow some more of our thinking on the topic in this piece by Jess Halliday, at FoodNavigator.com]
It’s official – the OF&G/Farmers Weekly jumper is underway! I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Our handicrafts expert, Certification Officer Katie Owens, is beavering away with the knitting needles and is already a good couple of inches up from the bottom (probably called lower hem, or something, for those in the know).
She’s using only the finest materials, with the organic wool provided by Juliet at Ystrad Organics.
There’s a certain degree of excitement surrounding this event, mainly because we’re all very keen to see Certification Manager, Steve Clarkson, modelling it for the world. He’ll probably be blinded for a week by all the camera flashes when this major event occurs, but it’s all in the line of duty… Kind of.
Some industry news we’ve received that’s worth sharing:
Community Foods appoints new MD and Commercial Director
Community Foods Ltd, experts in sourcing dried fruit, nuts and seeds as well as leading organic specialist has appointed Martin Rome as Managing Director from 1st January 2010 to succeed Bill Henry who remains on the board.
Martin joined Community Foods from Whitworths in April. Martin brings over 20 years experience
in dried fruit, nuts and seeds having started his career with S&W Berisford before moving to Voicevale and latterly Whitworths for 8 years where he held the position of Purchasing Director.
Martin’s external interests include his position as chairman of FRUCOM (a European federation, representing a wide range of food products) and board member of CENTA (Combined Edible Nuts Trade Association). Martin has previously also chaired the NDFTA (British Dried Fruit Trades Association).
David Lewis is promoted to Commercial Director overseeing all of Community’s retail activities. David has been with Community for 9 years and has been responsible for establishing Community’s leading Organic Brand, Crazy Jack Organic in the home bake sector.
