MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK: Record for organic products sales

People in the south of England are the UK's biggest organic food fans

Annual sales of organic products have hit a record £2 billion - but home-grown supplies are struggling to meet growing demand.

Spending on organic food and drink increased by 22% in 2006 compared to 2005. Vegetables boxes, mail ordering and other local supply schemes enjoyed the biggest year-on-year growth of 53% to £146 million, according to the Soil Association's organic market report 2007. Sales of free-range and organic eggs have overtaken sales of eggs from caged birds for the first time, the report says. Total sales of organic goods rose to £1.937 billion to make the UK the third largest market in Europe after Germany and Italy. But "it is important to note that this rate of growth is unlikely to be sustained in 2007 due to severe shortages in the supply of UK organic products," the report warned. UK self-sufficiency in organic grain used as livestock feed fell below 50% for the first time last year, prompting an increase in imports and the likelihood that the price of organic food will rise. The volume of UK-sourced organic meat sold by food chains dropped 9% to an average 79% of all meat sales, mainly due to the drop in domestic organic pork. The production cost of organic pork for UK farmers is estimated to be between 70% and 100% higher than for non-organic pork. The number of organic pigs slaughtered in 2006 dropped by 10% on the previous year. The average size of organic farms in the UK also seems to be shrinking - mainly because of large hill farms in Scotland abandoning their organic status. An average £37 million per week is spent on organic goods with people in London, the south east, south west and Wales the biggest spenders.