Recession is forcing many consumers to question and justify their choices and to prioritise what’s most important to them. While people may want to economise on what they spend on food, many continue to look for quality – whether this is in terms of provenance and taste or about ethics and environmental impact.

Organic products are perceived by most people to be expensive, so it is no surprise that shoppers are looking for value for money. Some are buying organic products at less expensive retailers, turning to farm shops, or even growing their own. It is more important than ever for organic products to be seen as mainstream staples rather than special occasion luxuries. This means that they must be both affordable and widely available. Consumer understanding of the benefits of organic production is still patchy, and there continues to be a real need for clear, engaging communication to explain and promote these.

Brands such as Yeo Valley and Organix will help to maintain consumer awareness and interest in organic food through the recession, as they can communicate successfully to a wide audience the many benefits of choosing organic products – taste, quality, health, naturalness, animal welfare, lower environmental impact. These benefits are clearly important contributors to the ‘value for money’ equation; the stronger the perception of these benefits, the better value organic products will appear.

Major multiple retailers, fixated by price wars, may temporarily lose interest in promoting organic products, which will create opportunities for independent retailers, and for manufacturer brands over retail own brands. As people eat at home more, increasingly cooking from scratch, the quality of ingredients will become more important, creating further opportunities for organic raw materials and cooking components.

Consumer appreciation of the environmental advantages of organic production lags behind perception of taste and health benefits, but the environmental advantages are increasingly important. This is one area where the public sector should be expected to take the lead, reflecting its sustainability commitments in procurement policies that make organic products widely available in schools, hospitals and the canteens of government departments and organisations.

Consumer interest in the benefits offered by organic products is deep and long term, and it is particularly important now for the organic sector to explain these benefits in an inspiring way to demonstrate that organic offers true value for money.

Dorothy Mackenzie, Chairman, Dragon Rouge in London 

This article first appeared in the Soil Association Organic market report 2009