Sales of organic food show no sign of slowing ­ despite Iceland's revelation that not all its customers could stomach it. But as the category moves mass market, can it live up to shoppers' expectations? Linda Pettit reports Iceland's admission that it got it wrong when it tried to sell only organic vegetables in the freezer cabinets is big news, but no great surprise to many. The chain converted all its own-label frozen veg to organic last year in a blaze of publicity, and promised that prices would match non-organic produce. But prices crept up and its customers crept away. New chief executive Bill Grimsey admits the idea was "fundamentally misguided" and now plans to sell organic food alongside the conventional offer. An Iceland spokeswoman admits a proportion of shoppers still don't understand what the term organic means. "Expectations of organic foods are high, with 83% expecting organic food to be kinder to the environment, 76% expecting organic food to be kinder to animals than ordinary food, and 54% expecting organic food to taste better, "she says. "It has also become clear that there are still many consumers who don't understand about organic, so an education programme is needed for success in the future." But this development is not representative of the sector as a whole. Take a look round any supermarket and you'll find a burgeoning range of organic products. No longer are these restricted to fresh vegetables, fruits and meats ­ you can now fill your shopping basket with the likes of organic toffees (bland, tasteless and expensive), organic fizzy drinks (refreshing and tasty) and organic crisps (still high in fat). A glance down Sainsbury's organic product list and among the cheese, vegetables, eggs, meat, fish and fruit you'll find organic Ambrosia creamed rice and organic after dinner mints. At Tesco you'll find organic chicken korma, quiche, mint humbugs and even pet food. And the growth of organic food sales look set to continue. Year-on-year figures are still climbing by an average of 40% ­ more than 60% in some supermarkets. Much of this growth is fuelled by food scares ­ particularly BSE ­ and shoppers' new demands for foods that they consider to be healthier, tastier and less tampered with. Wider availability and increased product range have also helped move the concentration of sales from the organic die-hards, to a new generation of organic shopper ­ those the Soil Association terms the "light greens" and Sainsbury calls the "dabblers" - the one in three of us who claim to have bought an organic item in the past few months. The supermarkets are largely responsible for broadening the appeal of organic food. They now sell 74% of the organic food sold in the UK, with the rest being bought at farm gates, through box schemes or from market stalls. Over the past couple of years the major multiples have waged a bitter war, vying for the position of biggest, and best, organic retailer. Sainsbury, recently voted Organic Supermarket of the Year in the Soil Association's Organic Food Awards, now carries more than 1,000 organic lines. Tesco, with TV ads promoting its organic ready meals starring Prunella Scales, carries 700 lines, and Waitrose has a staggering 1,130. But to get this success story into some perspective, while annual organic sales may be worth £546m ­ expected to double in the next 12 months ­ around 62% of organic purchases are made by only 7% of the population. That's a lot of sales concentrated on a relatively small group of people. Also putting pressure on the sector is the fact that 70% of organic food sold in this country is imported, because less than 2% of British producers have converted to organic farming ­ not helped by the fact that the government is loath to invest much more in the industry. While producers still show some reluctance to convert to organic, many shoppers are clearly embracing the concept for a myriad reasons. Recent research conducted by the IGD shows that more than a third of shoppers believe organics to be healthier, safer and environmentally beneficial, while a quarter consider it tastes better. But retailers are restricted in what claims they can legitimately make about organic food, without research to back it up. Last year a complaint against the Soil Association was upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority regarding a Soil Association leaflet which claimed you could taste the difference between organic food and conventionally produced food, that it was healthy, better for the environment and meant healthy, happy animals. Complaints were also upheld about similar claims made by organic brand Seeds of Change and Tesco. So until scientific research exists to prove any of this, it's up to each shopper's understanding of what organic means, to guide his or her shopping habits. But whatever reason shoppers use to select organic food, it does represent another weapon in the armoury of supermarket retailing. And with the mood of the general public swinging away from mass production and intensive farming, it's good PR for the supermarkets to be seen to be working with organic farmers and growers and being "environmentally-friendly". Producing organic processed foods is also getting easier as more organically certified ingredients are now available around the world. Certifying bodies such as the Soil Association, responsible for 70% of the organic food certification in the UK, require that 95% of a product's ingredients are certified organic and at an equivalent standard to their own. This is more straightforward if the ingredient is sourced from an EU country, but more difficult if it comes from South America and the US where different guidelines on GMOs come into play. Without any of these complications, which could slow up the certifying process, the Soil Association says that a new product could obtain certification within 12 weeks of submitting an application form. So are we likely to see more and more organic lines being launched? Nicki Baggott, project manager for organics at Sainsbury's, believes not. She says that while sales will continue to climb for at least two years, the rate of new product development, certainly at Sainsbury, will slow down. "We've seen phenomenal growth this year," she says. "We've gone from stocking 650 products in April last year to 1,000. Now our priority is to see whether what we've got is right. Our range is likely to grow by a couple of hundred items but we'll be taking out any that aren't working." She is critical of the new product development being undertaken by manufacturers. "I'm finding a lot of duplication with the organic supply base.There's a lot of me-too products like pasta sauces. Suppliers are not concentrating on the recipe or the ingredients being different to other organic items available ­ many are just offering the same product. "Manufacturers must be more innovative," she says. "It's not enough just to be organic. There's a real lack of innovation out there, a lot of monotony and the space available to organics is not finite." She says that because the quality issue is so important, not all conventional convenience products could convert into an organic version. Some, she says, don't have the "quality credibility". Asda agrees. It currently only sells one organic ready meal line ­ organic lasagne. A spokesperson for Asda says this is because the group has been disappointed with the quality of branded organic ready meals. In reality, Asda's low price strategy will make it difficult to produce an organic ready meal. Asda is looking to introduce an own-label organic range by the end of May, but is uncertain this date can be met. "The Soil Association can't give us a date for inspection for another three months," a spokeswoman says. For some sections of the organic movement, processed foods go against the very principles that it was built on ­ that of supporting smaller, local suppliers, reducing "food miles", benefiting the environment and eating food that's as close to its raw, natural state as possible. The Soil Association admits this is an issue. Internally, there have even been talks of labelling organic foods to show the level of processing or the food miles it has travelled. But the association also sees the benefits which processed organic foods have in attracting new customers into organics. "You get those in the organic movement who are purists who say that organic should only be sold through box schemes and should be products that come out of the ground," says Mike Collins, spokesman for the association. "But realists say we've got to convince people to buy organic. If we can get them to buy baby food and pizzas, then the chances are they will then start buying fresh organic food," he says. Sainsbury is also adamant that by selling processed organic food, it has not thrown out the principles of organic production. "We believe in the true values of organic in terms of quality and integrity," insists Baggott. "We believe in selling as much British produce as possible. I don't think we're running the risk of over-processing as we're producing what the standards allow us to produce," she says. "Ten years ago organic buyers were real foodies', but the market has changed. Now organic shoppers want convenience, they want ready meals and pasta sauces. We're listening closely to what they want." They may want convenience, but organic customers also expect more ­ they want better tasting, healthier food that's safer to eat and better for the environment, and the majority are prepared to pay more for it too. The challenge that now faces supermarkets, producers and food manufacturers is how to grow the sector to attract a broader audience while protecting the integrity that shoppers expect when they buy organic.Taste an organic toffee and you'll agree that in some instances, the principle is not enough. Despite the Iceland upset, the Soil Association insists that the bubble has not burst. A spokeswoman says: "There's still enormous demand, it's just that Iceland didn't get its customer research right and it was over-ambitious. Other chains have done more long-term planning and the future for the organic sector is very bright." {{COVER FEATURE }}

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