Organic food sales growing by 20 per cent, study shows

A major study released this year shows the organic food movement in Canada is here to stay and growing. Sales are increasing by at least 20 per cent a year, the study indicates.

“If you go back 10 years ago, people knew about organics but most thought it was just a fad,” says Ted Soudant, president of Field Gate Organics Inc., and Field Gate Organics Processing Ltd., based in Zurich, Ontario. “That’s not the case anymore.”

The study, commissioned by the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC), looked at sales stats from major supermarkets as well as other outlets like farmers’ markets and natural food stores in 2005-2006.

The value of certified organic food sales moving through grocery supermarkets only was estimated at $412 million in 2006, up 28 per cent from 2005.

Soudant says Field Gate Organics (FGO), an organic farming community made up of about 50 family farms, is certainly seeing an increase in demand for its products.

“The main reason it isn’t going more quickly is the creation of the raw product,” he says.

FGO recently transitioned about eight farmers from conventional farming to total organic farming.

The process can take anywhere from six months to six years.

For organic poultry, if one is willing to purchase organic feed, it is possible to have organic chicken or eggs within six or eight months of set-up, according to Soudant.

To begin growing and selling certified organic produce from cash crops, it takes four years, with three years of transition in which one can farm organically but not sell. In the fourth year, one can begin marketing, providing crops have been appropriately inspected and passed for certified organic.

Growing organic beef can take up to six years if one is interested in growing one’s own feed for the cattle, rather than simply purchasing it.

While the transition can be lengthy, Soudant says there is a growing interest from farmers in organic farming.

A few years ago, the larger farming community typically viewed organic farming with skepticism, he says. Now conventional farmers are asking how they can go about making the transition.

Soudant says this can be at least partly attributed to the fact that farmers can see the growing demand for certified organic products.

“Also, the prices are better by all means, especially for the cash crops. Even on the meat side, the prices are better.”

Retail prices also tend to be more stable for organic food products than for conventional foods, he says.

— Part one of a series

To read part two, click here.