The organic market suffered severely from the economic crash in 2007, but according to Andrew Skea, of Skea Organics, the organic seed potato market is slowly recovering.
“Since we started, around 15 years ago, the market has been a rollercoaster,” says Andrew. “From 1999 until around 2007, when the recession hit there was a fairly consistent and fast growth in the market, about ten percent per year, maybe more. But after the recession, it crashed. The sales of organic potatoes in the UK at the moment are only around a quarter of what it was six or eight years ago.”
It is estimated that in 2008 the consumption of organic potatoes was at a level of around 50,000 tonnes per year. Figures now are down to about 10 to 12,000 tonnes.
“It has been difficult operating in a market that has contracted at that kind of speed. However, we are hoping we might see a bit of growth now and stronger prices for the next few years.”
Skea Organics deals mainly in organic seed potatoes, of which they grow around 28 different varieties, but also they also supply other organic vegetables, such as ware potatoes, carrots, swede and parsnip.
“We supply our seed potatoes to farmers, quite often smaller scale farmers who supply local markets, farm shops or home delivery box schemes. We also sell a lot of seed to the garden market. Some go straight to allotment associations as well.
“Our main buyer for our organic vegetables is a retailer in the south of England. We also have supermarket partners in Ireland and Germany, which are our two biggest markets for seed potatoes, as well as supplying small quantities to Spain, France, Sweden, Slovenia, the Canary Islands and the Netherlands.”
This year the organic potato market has had a reasonable season, especially compared to the difficult season for their conventional counterparts.
“By comparison we haven’t been nearly as badly affected by oversupply and low prices. Our prices have been fairly stable and supply and demand are reasonably in balance. We’re hoping to sell everything by the end of the season.”
For more information:
Andrew Skea
Skea Organics
Email: andrew@skea.eu
Mobile: +44 (0)7803 136340
Office: +44 (0)1382 320453