Organic sales haved faced a downturn
The sale of organic food and drink has slumped, and with Devon being such a centre of the organic trade, we were wondering what impact that downturn was having on our homegrown producers. We’ll put our findings here. Meanwhile, the sale of ethical goods and services is on the increase.
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Sales of organic food and drink slumped by 10% to £1.53bn last year as shoppers opted for cheaper alternatives, according to a new report.
But despite the impact of the economic downturn, overall sales of “ethical” goods and services – ranging from food and drink to transport and funerals – were generally resilient, increasing by almost 9% last year to £46.8bn from £43bn.
The Co-operative Group‘s annual report into ethical consumerism showed the biggest increases were in sales of small scale “micro-generation” products such as solar thermal and solar photovoltaic panels and heat pumps (up by 386%), and “green” cars (up 129%).
Other sectors enjoying huge growth are Fairtrade food and drink, which pay a premium to farmers and producers in poor countries to help them work their way out of poverty, which recorded a rise of more than a third (36%). Sales of fish from sustainable sources grew by 16.3%, and expenditure on green funerals leaped by 35% to £6.9m from £5.1m.
The report has been compiled since 1999 when annual ethical sales were just £13.5bn, and analyses sales data for sectors including food, household goods, travel and ethical finance. It is based on national data covering spending through all retailers rather than just from the Co-operative’s own outlets.
The slump in sales of organic food means they have plummeted by 23% from an all-time high of almost £2bn in 2008.
Charitable donations have remained surprisingly stable during the downturn, with consumers giving £3.6bn to environmental, social and animal welfare causes. And the value of money in ethical savings and investments increased by 9% in 2010 to £21.2bn. This includes £9bn in ethical bank deposits as well as £11.3bn in ethical investments.
Surprisingly, the use of public transport for ethical reasons has fallen back 7% to £521m, while sales of green cars have surged to £846m, more than double the 2009 value, while spending on bicycles is up to £698m.
Paul Monaghan, head of social goals at the Co-operative, said: “The report shows that intervention by enlightened businesses, together with regulatory intervention, is driving ethical sales growth.
“During the downturn we’ve seen some of the biggest ever Fairtrade conversions, be it in chocolate or sugar, and business is beginning to respond to the challenge to provide consumers with more sustainable products and services such as fish, palm oil and soya.
“Ethical consumers are still a vitally important barometer of change. However, the actions of progressive business are now a significant contributor to sales growth.”
Monaghan took a swipe at the government for slashing the value of incentives for the national feed-in tariff programme: “Ultimately, over and above the efforts of responsible business and ethical consumers, sustainable solutions require a government committed to long-term intervention, such as an effective feed-in-tariff programme, to maintain the economic viability of the micro-generation market.”
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