Sunday Express report on organic market just doesn’t add up,

The Organic Milk Suppliers Co-Operative (OMSCo), the UK co-operative of 500 organic dairy farms, were dismayed this week at the publication of figures supposedly showing a decline in UK organic milk sales as published in the Scottish Sunday Express and originating from mysupermarket.com. According to the Express article "sales of organic eggs and milk have slumped by nearly 50 per cent since the summer". OMSCo’s market intelligence tells a very different story.

According to the latest TNS figures on liquid milk sales, taken as an industry standard and published by UK levy board DairyCo,sales figures for september 2009 show sales 3 per cent higher than August 2009 and quarterly data reveals a 2.1 per cent growth compared to 2008.

OMSCo’s members account for two thirds of the UK’s total supply of organic raw milk to the UK dairy industry. As such, they are uniquely placed to comment on the performance of the organic dairy market. As Richard Hampton, OMSCo’s sales and marketing director explains: "The figures quoted in Louise Barnett’s article bear no relation to actual market performance, not least as mysupermarket.com are montoring a limited section of the retail market. Sales of organic milk are increasing, with the rates of growth actually accelerating in recent months, so those in the organic dairy industry are at a loss to explain the discrepancy."

In the course of her article, Barnett also refers to a Food Standards Agency report which questioned the health benefits of organic food, citing this as the cause of the alleged decline in sales. OMSCo question the impact of this report, and, along with the rest of the organic industry and many consumers, are keen to point out that the FSA focused on nutrient content, ignoring the other health aspects of organic food, aspects which many consumers are most concerned about – namely artificial chemical residues.

As Hampton suggests: "The health benefit of organic food is as much about what isn’t in it, as what is and the FSA’s own website acknowledges the nutritional difference of organic milk. This report has had little effect on sales, as consumers buy organic food for a wide variety of reasons, including health, animal welfare and the environment, and with the cost of switching to organic milk at less than £1 per week for the average family of 4, it is much cheaper than many people realise. As more consumers discover what great value organic milk is, so we are seeing sales grow."