Soil Association Certification’s keynote event, the Organic Trade Conference: Organic on the Road to 2030, took place at the end of October with over 300 people in attendance both physically and virtually.
Delegates of the Organic Trade Conference heard from a line-up of industry-leading speakers who shared consumer insights, revealed brand-new market data and spoke of ‘real-time business successes in adapting to a changing climate’.
Highlights included Henry Dimbleby, author of the National Food Strategy, speaking on organic’s role in ‘lowering the human impact on our planet’ by 2030. The strategy calls for funding for farmer-led innovation for agroecological methods which have, so far, ‘been starved of investment’.
The conference heard that organic’s ‘positive story’ continues, with growth sitting at +6.5% (in the 52 weeks to 23 September) – ‘well ahead’ of non-organic. This growth was reflected in increased online sales of organic by 33% (Nielsen).
The final key takeaway centred around the importance of consumer education in order for shoppers to make the ‘critical’ link between sustainability, the climate crisis, health and animal welfare.
