Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
being Price Charles who found his brand being rescued by the supermarket 'Waitrose'. The
amount of land organically managed rose in 2009, to 4.3% of the UK's farmland. The
geographic distribution of organic farmland remains complex with a strong increase in
Wales reflecting that nations agricultural policies and a continuing strong presence in the
South West of England.
The plunge in sales had a galvanising affect on the organic industry in the UK, as it had
previously tended to allow the campaigning groups to promote organic whilst individual
businesses focused on marketing their own brands (Reed 2009). This changed with the
formation of the organic trade board (OTB)
1
, which as well as seeking to represent the
industry, looks to share market research, promote effective communication with consumers
and to improve the evidence base for organic products. As part of this the OTB along with
the environmental charity Sustain promoted the OrganicUK campaign to raise funds that
would be matched by the EU to promote organic products generically in the UK, with the
announcement of a 3 year promotional campaign costing £2million in July 2010. In the
autumn of 2010 this collective effort was initially eclipsed by one of the donors to
OrganicUK solo effort. The Yeo Valley dairy used short advertising slots during the popular
TV talent show the 'X-factor' to trail an on-line video of some of its farmers rapping. In the
first two days it had secured over 350,000 on-line views which had risen to 1.4 million by
mid-December on the dairy's own YouTube channel, inevitably - Yeotube. Its products
during this period offered the chance to win tickets to the X Factor, as Yeo Valley spent
£5million attracting a youthful audience for organic milk
2
.
The recession in organic sales saw the UK organic industry organise itself and move into
promotional activities in many ways clarifying the role of the charities such as the Soil
Association that had previously conducted much of this work. That it was the diary
businesses, the least effected by the recession and the largest enterprises, that were at the
forefront of these developments suggests something of the future direction of the organic
industry. Until the recession much of the advertising of organic products had been
marked by elitism, with branding aimed at more affluent consumers
(Cook, Reed et al.
2008)
. For many in marketing and retailing this dovetailed with the higher costs of
production in some organic systems, resulting in organics to be positioned within stores
and brandscapes at the more expensive end of product ranges. Some, such as Riverford's
Guy Watson consistently argued against this approach and the damaging impacts it had
on the organic market, but until the recession their warnings went unheeded. The first
advertising campaign resulting from this initiative 'Why I love Organic', changed the
tenor of previous organic marketing by deliberately featuring working men, alongside
celebrity endorsements and social media links. Without the upward pressure of rising
incomes, the previous marketing strategy was exposed. Re-orientated by actors such as
the OTB the emerging strategy is less elitist as it aims at penetrating the mass-markets
often disparaged by activists.
6. Super dairies
In 2009 most of England's dairy cattle lived on farms that ran herds of between 100-200
animals, with the second largest group were those in herds of over 200 animals. Against
1
www.organictradeboard.co.uk
2
http://www.yeovalleyorganic.co.uk/
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