LONDON - Britain's organic food and drink market will increase 72 percent by 2010 to reach 2 billion pounds ($3.47 billion), research company Mintel said on Thursday.
Organic products currently account for around one percent of overall food and drink sales, with market sales estimated at1.2 billion pounds ($2.08 billion) in 2005, the report said.
"Sales are being driven by consumer interest in healthy eating, locally sourced product and concern for the environment and food safety," Mintel senior market analyst Julie Sloan said in a statement.
Britain's organic certification body, the Soil Association, said it believes market growth will be even stronger than Mintel's report suggested.
"We think that Mintel's projection (of 2 billion pounds in sales by 2010) underestimates the growth of the organic market," Soil Association director Patrick Holden said in a statement.
"In our perception, there is tremendous, underlying interest in sustainable production and locally-sourced foods....The organic and local food market is a big idea whose time has come," Holden said.
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