Soil Association Certification launched their annual Organic Market Report today, leading with the headline ‘Organic bounces back from the cost of living crisis with growth exceeding non-organic, rising 7.3% to reach £3.7bn in 2024′.
Sales of organic in major retailers are worth £2.43bn up 8%1 and unit sales of organic grew four-times more than non-organic food and drink at 4.7%1. In previous years economic challenges reduced volume in categories like organic dairy so a return to strong unit growth in 2024 is a powerful indicator of performance and robust demand.
Soil Association Certification Commercial and Marketing Director Georgia Philips said: “The organic market delivered abundant growth across the board last year out-performing non-organic in both volume and value growth – a key indicator of the health and potential of the market as we look to the future.
“We saw strong growth in all food and drink channels and product categories with outstanding performance in the multiples, independents and home delivery. And the signs are strong that this growth is here to stay with increasing consumer demand, particularly from Gen Z shoppers who are increasingly motivated by healthy and sustainable choices and seeking out organic products.
“But there are still some significant barriers to overcome to see UK organic market share scale as it has done in so many European countries where government and retailer support have been a catalyst for rapid organic growth. That’s why we have joined forces with leading nature and environmental NGOs to make the case for a 10% Government target for land to be farmed organically – which will support a rapid transition with new financial opportunities for farmers and realise the significant health, nature and environmental benefits for the UK.”
Organic dairy and produce categories continue to have the highest share of organic sales – accounting for almost half (49%) of all organic sales made through major retail1. These fresh categories are key entry points for organic shoppers seeking natural, minimally processed and healthy options.
Fyffe’s CEO John Hopkins said: “We have seen strong growth in our sales of organic bananas in 2024, driven by a growing customer demand and supported by retailer availability and promotional activity. Approximately 11% of all of our banana sales are organic and fairtrade – meeting a growing consumer need for assurances around health, sustainability and supply chain fairness.”
RB Organics Managing Director Joe Rolfe said: “We’ve seen growth of organic vegetable sales across all of our retail customers. It is pleasing to see that there is a renewed retailer interest in Organic September and many retailers remain committed to driving organic growth. For us, ensuring consistent levels of supply for on shelf availability, planned promotional activity and working closely with our customers has been key to directing more people to purchasing organic veg.”
Mirroring the growth in the supermarkets other channels saw powerful performances too. The independent retail channel rose 9% to top £518m – fuelled by customers seeking a unique in-store experience, quality products and access to more local food.
Online continues to be a strong performer, with organic twice as likely to be shopped digitally through the grocery multiples with retailers like Ocado over indexing on organic. Home delivery, which has always been an important channel for organic sales – making up 15% of the market – is now back in growth, seeing a 3% uplift.
After a difficult couple of years, foodservice saw a 6.5% sales increase, largely thanks to a fall in inflation. It was also a strong year for the non-food sector too, with organic beauty and textiles both up 11%.
Generation Z seeking organic
Quoting our Consumer Insights Report created in collaboration with the Organic Research Centre, Soil Association highlighted that businesses have fresh insights on how consumers are shopping organic. The UKO/ORC report shows that 67% (nearly seven out of ten) consumers “intentionally” buy organic, with younger (under 24), lower and middle-income households the most active organic shoppers.
This showed that lower-income shoppers display higher rates of purchasing organic products consistently in multiple product categories. Also, they’re more likely to buy organic products on special occasions and a higher proportion of low-income shoppers said that they “always bought organic” in at least four (or more) product categories. Plus, data from veg box specialists Locavore shows that 28% of its shoppers have an annual household income of under £30,000 and half of those were under £20,000.
Georgia said: “Cost of living pressures haven’t gone anywhere. But, now accustomed to higher prices, consumers are prioritising other areas, such as health and the environment. As these priorities become ever-more embedded in shoppers’ buying habits – the future looks bright for organic.”
Organic farmland
Despite another year of growth, there’s still a widening gap between the organic market and organic production in England, with a heavy reliance on imports. Organic farmland has remained static for another year4. And the percentage of organic land share has largely halted in England, representing just 3% of the country’s farmed area.
Although government figures for organic farmland in 2024 have not yet been published, data relating to land certified by Soil Association Certification give cause for optimism that organic farming is on the rise, with land in transition to organic almost doubling last year.
Georgia said: “We have already seen promising signs as the land in conversion with the Soil Association Certification has doubled since January 2024 as government and shoppers invest in organic. Welcome news and real signs of progress after government figures for 2023 showed that the percentage of organic land share had remained static at around 3% in England for the last decade.”
Like many nations in Europe the experience in Scotland has demonstrated that with clear support from government an increasing number of farmers are keen to convert to organic. Scotland has seen a strong increase in organic land managed under the Scottish government’s Agri-Environment Climate Scheme since 2021.
Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands said: “The significant increase in organic land managed under the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) is a testament to Scotland’s commitment to sustainable farming and environmental stewardship. As at the end of 2024, we’ve seen over 49,000 additional hectares of converted and maintained organic land under AECS management, representing a remarkable 69% increase since 2021.”
You can download a copy of the OMR 2025 here: https://www.soilassociation.org/certification/organic-market-report/
References
- NielsenIQ Scantrack data for the Organic Food & Drink category Soil Association Certification defined for the 52 week period ending 28 December 2024, GB Total Coverage
- Organic Research Centre and UK Organic
- Soil Association Certification 2024 survey of over 200 organic businesses
- DEFRA Organic Farming Statistics United Kingdom 2023
