?Sainsbury's



Sainsbury's organic sales are growing ahead of the market. Sales of its own-label SO Organic range jumped 17% year-on-year to more than £310m last year, with growth continuing in double digits this year. Its new soup lines, introduced in October, have proven popular with young lifestylers thanks to more exciting recipes such as Mushroom and Celeriac. A long-term strategy on sourcing has paid off and all organic fresh meat is now British. This year it will launch up to 60 new lines including summer lines.



?Asda



Could this be the year that Asda gets its act together on organics? It was slow to integrate organic products into its conventional line-up, but in stores where it has done so sales have been "flying", it claims. Produce is now integrated, and fresh food will be by the end of the year. Asda includes organic lines in its Linksave promotions as part of a push to make organics an attainable everyday purchase for C1 and C2 shoppers. It predicts that by 2011 its market share in organics will match that of conventional.



?Seeds of Change



"Seeds of Change is really coming up this year and seems to be becoming more mainstream," says Tom Greenwood, co-founder of sustainable brand strategist Scamper. The company ranks as the number one organic food brand in its main meal-operating categories (wet cooking sauce, pasta, soup) and it launched a new organic chocolate range late last year. In 2008, the brand is investing over £4m in a marketing campaign.



?Honeyrose Bakery



West London-based organic baker Honeyrose is firmly positioned in the premium cake market and the company has developed a loyal following for its range of hand-baked muffins, cakes and cookies. It is listed in Waitrose and its products are also sold at events such as the Chelsea Flower Show. Honeyrose moves to its new £2.4m factory next month, quadrupling capacity, and expects that turnover (currently £2m) will double over the next 18 months.



?Plum



Two years after its launch, Plum's decision to focus on "superfood" ingredients such as quinoa has seen it carve out a niche of its own against brands such as Organix and Hipp in the highly competitive organic babyfood sector. As one of the fastest-growing organic brands, Plum now has a 5% market share in the UK and had a retail sales value of £3.9m in 2007 [Nielsen]. A new toddler range is to be launched in September.

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