Raising the organic profile

Launching organic produce into the mainstream for consumers will be addressed in a special one-day event later this year.

Selling Organic: The Next Chapter will be hosted by Organic Conferences and Organic Farmers & Growers in Oxford this October.

In order to maximise the selling of organic produce, which has been difficult for wine as retailers struggle to explain to consumers how an organic wine differentiates from a non-organic-labelled bottle, key figures from the retail world will discuss and examine ways to ensure the continued growth of organic food and farming.

Topics examined at the event will include buyer behaviour, market intelligence, an update on the Organic UK campaign as well as permitted and prohibited marketing language.

Richard Jacobs, chief executive of Organic Farmers & Growers and member of the government’s Advisory Committee on Organic Standards (ACOS), said: “Last year we saw the need to put sharp focus on the messages and marketing of organics because we weren’t getting key information to consumers.

“Since then we’ve moved a long way as a sector, particularly with the successful Organic UK bid for European funding to properly promote the benefits of organic food and farming, which is a huge step.

"This year we’re moving the discussion on to what the sector needs to do next. The conference is returning because of the overwhelming positive response we received from last year’s delegates and their insistence that we should keep a focus on our industry’s progress.”

The conference, whose sponsors include Tesco, This Is Organics and Doves Farm, will be held at the Barceló Oxford Hotel on Thursday 14 October 2010.

Jane Parkinson, 19.07.2010