Organic food and drink sales hit a record £2.2 billion last year thanks to a boost from independent retailers and home deliveries.
According to a new report from the Soil Association, organic produce saw sales rise six per cent last year, marking the sixth year of consecutive growth and the highest ever figure since plummeting sales during the recession.
This also reportedly puts organic produce ahead of non-organic food sales in terms of growth, having risen just two per cent over the same period.
Supermarket sales saw a 4.2 per cent rise to £1.5 billion, while independent retailers including farm shops, health shops and chains like Whole Foods and Planet Organic saw sales rise 9.7 per cent to £359 million.
Elsewhere home delivery service saw a 9.5 per cent jump to £286 million.
“Organic delivers on those values and is also increasingly seen as the healthy and ethical choice thanks to mounting evidence of the difference between organic and non-organic, both in terms of nutrition and environmental impact,” Soil Association business development director Clare McDermott said.
“This stamp of assurance will only become more important as understanding of organic increases and we look toward the formation of new trade deals post-Brexit.”
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