After a few years of what economists might euphemistically call ‘negative growth’, the organic market is back on the march as Osborne’s ‘green shoots of recovery’ start to come out for Spring.
Talk at Natural & Organic Products Europe was focused around the 2.8% growth achieved in the organic sector in the UK, according to The 2014 Soil Association Organic Market Report. And the best news was that some of this upturn is down to the burgeoning organic beauty market. The figures reveal that sales of organic health and beauty products grew 17% in 2013 to reach a good-looking £37.2 million.
However, though any upturn is music to the ears of struggling retailers, some commentators have questioned the veracity of the Soil Association’s statistics.
“The Soil Association figures would not be representative of the UK natural and organic beauty products market, since they only look at Soil Association licensees,” says Amarjit Sahota, president of Organic Monitor.
He argues that the Soil Association figures miss out a lot of the market they’re purporting to capture. “Many organic brands are not certified according to the Soil Association and are not captured in their data” he says. “Examples include Weleda, Melvita and Dr Hauschka.”
Capturing reliable statistics has always been an issue for the natural and organic beauty market. After all, how you define ‘organic’ will alter how you slice the data in the first place.
And should you include the big brands that rely on low percentages of certified organic ingredients to claim the tag? Or should you simply concentrate on the plucky smaller companies who really go the extra mile to make sure their products truly make the natural and organic grade?
Until these problems are solved there’s always going to be quibbles about exactly what the market looks like.
Meanwhile, at least Organic Monitor and the Soil Association both agree that organic beauty is now definitely on the up.
“Growth in the UK market for natural and organic beauty products has been subdued since the financial crisis in 2008,” says Sahota. “Growth rates have been between 5-7% per annum in the UK since then, compared to double-digit growth rates in continental Europe. “However, we expect growth rates to pick up this year and in subsequent years as the retail sector picks up.”
Matt Chittock is a freelance copywriter and journalist
