Top 10 reasons for buying organic

Top 10 reasons for buying organic products (Soil Association Market Report – May 2010 – onepoll.com)
 Naturalness/unprocessed – 40%
 Restricted use of pesticides – 34%
 Better taste – 30%
 Better for my well-being – 28%
 Better for the planet – 25%
 Kind to animals – 22%
 GM free – 18%
 Encourages wildlife – 16%
 Helping climate change – 12%
 Organic products are available from all major supermarkets, farm shops and farmers markets, vegetable box schemes, specialist independent stores, direct from producers and online.
This Top 10 list has been produced as part of the launch of a high profile three-year campaign that is set to deliver sales growth by increasing consumer demand for organic food in the UK.
Match funded by the EU, the aim of the £2m ‘Why I Love Organic’ campaign is to invite consumers to discover what organic means, by challenging their perceptions and discovering their own reason for loving it.
Launching in January 2011 under the banner ‘There are lots of reasons to love organic – discover yours’, the campaign consists of press advertising, PR and digital marketing and aims to democratise organic by using everyday people to talk about their reasons for buying and loving organic.
Chairman of the Organic Trade Board, Huw Bowles comments “We know that people want to eat natural and great tasting food which is exactly what organic is. Research has shown that when it comes to buying food, issues such as naturalness and restricted use of pesticides are important to consumers however they don’t always realise that this is exactly what they would get if they were to buy organic. The term organic is widely misunderstood and through this campaign, we want to help consumers to discover exactly what it means and why it’s worth it, with the ultimate aim of driving sales”.
Press ads will run across a number of national magazines over a 9 month period (in each of the 3 years of the programme.) The ad creative will challenge perceptions by featuring everyday individuals who would not normally be associated with buying organic, each giving their reason for why they love organic, highlighting the benefits of organic food.
The PR activity will help to raise awareness and focus on seasonal news stories, real life case studies, competitions, celebrity endorsement and tasty organic recipe ideas.
A new website (www.whyiloveorganic.co.uk) has also been created that will showcase the benefits of organic food, feature up to date news and recipe suggestions.
The site will also provide a forum for consumers to express and share their views and reasons for loving organic, and will complement the Facebook and Twitter pages which are also being created to support the campaign.
Huw Bowles says “The beauty of the campaign is that there are many reasons to love organic and this is a very strong and simple message for people to understand and it invites them to discover more.”
• About the Organic Trade Board
The Organic Trade Board (OTB) is a trade body run by industry, for industry. It is a not-for-profit organisation made up of over 120 companies who want to share the benefits of organic and change the perception of the organic industry in the UK. For further information, please visit www.organictradeboard.co.uk
The Organic Trade Board has collectively pledged £300,000 per year, which the EU has agreed to match. The total budget for the three year campaign is £1.8m.
• About Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming
The charity Sustain submitted the bid to the EU on behalf of the organic industry and is now responsible for managing the campaign.
See earlier post -
http://sirgarblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-organic-food-campaign-launched.html