Credit crunch hits sales of organic food

Sales of organic food are plummeting as cash-strapped shoppers switch to cheaper, according to a new report.

Once the darling of the supermarket shelves, organic food is suffering as Britain enters its first recession in a decade, figures from research analysts Mintel suggests. The report found that the UK organic food and drink market is now worth £1.6 billion. But as a result of the current economic climate, almost half - 48per cent - of all organic shoppers say that they will reduce or even give up buying organic food in the next year alone.

The report says that after 5 years impressive growth, attitudes towards organic food are clearly changing and sales are set to slacken off. The value of the market increased by an average of 16 per cent a year between 2003 and 2008, but in the coming years sales are forecast to dramatically slow and growth is unlikely to hit previous levels any time soon.