Tag Archives: Soil Association

New Chief Executive for Soil Association Certification

The UK’s largest organic certification body, Soil Association Certification, has appointed Martin Sawyer as its new chief executive to the organisation through the next phase of its development.

Martin has previously worked in management roles for Premier Foods, Bomfords Ltd, Oscar Mayer and Bakkavor, operating in corporate and private business environments in the UK and on mainland Europe.

Speaking about the new role, Martin Sawyer said; “I am looking forward to leading Soil Association Certification through the next phase – continuing to work hard to make organic accessible for everyone and growing our certification business in all areas across food, textiles, health and beauty and forestry products.

“I believe that everyone should have access to local, seasonal, affordable, healthy and organic food.  I’m looking forward to working with an organisation that shares this vision. Soil Association schemes like the Catering Mark already show great success in providing over one million meals each day, making good food the norm in schools, hospitals, care homes and workplaces – all places where people have little food choice.”

Soil Association Certification is responsible for certifying over 70% of all organic products sold in the UK. It also certifies other schemes including the Food for Life Catering Mark and FSC and PEFC forestry standards.

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Is organic market bouncing back?

According to a recent report in The Telegraph, shoppers may be returning to buying organic food as household finances improve.

According to the Soil Association, shoppers are now spending an extra £1.4m a week on organic food, pushing sales up by 4 per cent to £1.86bn last year. In comparison, total food sales fell 1.9pc in 2014, as consumers reined in the weekly shop and spent more money on takeaways and eating out.

However, organic food still only accounts for 1.3 per cent of the total market. “Britain is still very much lagging behind the rest of the Europe and the US,” said Adam Wakeley, co-owner and managing director of Worcestershire-based The Ethical Fruit Company, who blamed retailer’s focus on low prices for a lack of support. “Retailers don’t give as much shelf space to organic foods over here. Organic is a premium product and tends to be more expensive – organic farmers produce less products than conventional farmers because they don’t use pesticides or any artificial fertilisers.”

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