UK organic food sales hit 20-year high as shoppers seek trusted sources

The UK organic market is experiencing its strongest growth in two decades, driven by consumers who want to know where their food comes from and who benefits from buying it.

Riverford, the Devon-based vegetable box company, saw sales rise 6% to £117m in the year to May 2025, delivering about 70,000 boxes weekly across the country. The broader UK organic food and drink market grew nearly 9% in the same period — significantly outpacing the wider food sector — according to new figures from the Soil Association. That momentum was strong enough for Riverford to hand workers a £1.1m bonus.

"We haven't seen the market grow as much as this for 20 years," said Rob Haward, the company's chief executive. He attributed the surge to both new customers arriving and existing ones spending more, driven by greater awareness of healthy diets and what he called "increased concerns about where you can go to get food you can trust."

This represents a genuine recovery for organic farming. The sector struggled after the 2008 financial crisis and slowed further during the pandemic. The current boom suggests something has shifted in how people think about food — less about it being a luxury, more about it being a necessity they can feel good about.

What's driving the growth

Organic meat sales have been particularly strong, accounting for a tenth of Riverford's total revenue as shoppers specifically seek out higher welfare sources. That specificity matters: people aren't just buying organic in the abstract. They're choosing it for reasons they can articulate — animal welfare, soil health, knowing the farms involved.

But growth hasn't come without cost. Riverford's operating profits fell from £4.7m to £3.4m because the company chose to absorb rising costs rather than pass them fully to customers. Wages, energy, and Brexit-related paperwork on imports from farms in France and Spain all pushed expenses up. The company raised prices 3% across the year — modest compared to the pressures it faced.

There were wobbles too. Growth dipped last summer during a prolonged heatwave, then rebounded over Christmas and into the new year. Haward expects the upward trajectory to continue, though he notes that organic still accounts for just 2% of UK food sales — well behind other European markets, suggesting there's room for further expansion.

The supply question

The real constraint isn't demand. It's supply. Haward warned of a potential "gap in supply" because uncertainty over government farm support has discouraged farmers from expanding organic production to meet rising orders. Farmers need clarity and stability to invest in switching to organic methods, which often means lower yields in the short term.

He welcomed the government's relaunch of the sustainable farming incentive in June but emphasized that farmers need long-term certainty about what support will look like. "The real challenge for farmers is uncertainty," he said. "The sooner the government can get it back and clear and stable for as long as possible then farmers know exactly where they stand."

Meanwhile, Riverford is investing in its own environmental footprint. Seventy percent of its delivery vans are now electric, and it has two electric HGVs in the fleet. The company is also involved in nature recovery projects — planting woodland and wood-pasture at its own farms and those of suppliers — which suggests the organic movement is thinking beyond just what's in the box.

As the market enters 2026, conditions remain challenging. But if the last two years are any guide, the appetite for organic food grown with care and transparency isn't fading.