open i

A recent finding that UK supermarkets and other outlets are losing market share to the box trade should be considered as a very natural development in the increasingly sophisticated organic food marketing. Certainly supermarkets must have everybody beat when it comes to efficiency. But organic food needs promotion and the box trade provides better esposure for this.(565 words).

The box market involves those seeking a regular supply of organic produce signing up for delivery of boxed organic produce to their homes on a regular basis. From a marketing prospective this must have a very promising future as it something that lends itself so well to sales promotion.

The organic food market has, of course, long since moved on from a stall market exclusive. Super markets, or multiple retailers, as the Soils Association described them, have a 75 percent share of the total organic market. This may not be as much as they have in the overall food market and be down from 81 percent last year, but it is still dominant.

But the Soils Association, seemingly for the first time, featured box schemes and mail order sales in its annual report on the organic markets. Such sales represented just six percent of organic retail sales compared with 16 percent for farmers markets.

Real food fanciers, organic or otherwise, are prepared to rise early on Saturday morning and drive, or cycle down, to the nearest open air market to handle and debate the produce with stallholders and eventually make their purchase. They come home with satisfaction of coming as close as is practical to actually harvesting their purchases and have a sense of superiority to those who unload supermarket bags into their kitchens.

But they are unlikely to be swayed to buy more or more frequently by advertizing. Indeed, one of the attractions of open air or farmers' market is probably the absence of anything more than the stall holder's personal pitch.

For them the organic isle at the supermarket holds little attraction. But judging by the sales figures there are plenty of people who believe organic food is in some way better than conventional food. It is a tribute to the organic movement's promotion that organic food sales continue to expand even though traditional claims that it tastes better, is more healthy, is environmentally friendly and provides conservation advantages have been questioned in many forums. This growth has been in direct competition with conventionally produced food which, labelling apart, appears identical, available "across the aisle," and is less expensive.

But one of the challenges in promoting the organic marque must be that it gets so little exposure in supermarkets. Certainly the labelling is visible on the supermarket shelf and is exposed at the cash register before it is hidden in supermarket shopping bags. But this does not compare with the Coca-Cola logo which is exposed until the last drop is drained and beyond. Or with the Addidas stripes which are probably the longest wearing component of a pair of football boots.

The advent of organic box sales, however, creates greater opportunity for exposure. While having a fleet of small trucks cris-crossing the country delivering directly from producers to consumers may not the most energy efficient or cost effective means of delivery, they are probably very effective mobile billboard. And this must be particularly the case while they are being unloaded in mid to upper income suburban communities. Who else gets this kind of advertizing opportunity.

January 19, 2006