12 November 2007, 16:00 PM

  • Hot on the heels of a ten year, EU funded research project reaffirming the health benefits of organic milk, data from Yeo Valley Organic reveals that consumers are now lapping up more than 200 million litres of it a year.

The figures, which are based on AC Nielsen Scantrack research, show the organic sector of the milk market continues to be the one creating most growth - ahead by 11.5% year-on-year.

In value, organic milk is now worth almost £150m, which is more than 16% ahead of the previous 12 months. This compares to six percent growth for the total milk market and makes the organic milk sector one of the grocery trade’s fastest growing fresh produce markets. Says Ben Cull, Yeo Valley’s marketing director, “There are strong ethical and environmental benefits in favour of organic milk that appeal to a growing number of consumers, but each time there’s new research showing nutritional benefits, sales take a further leap forward, so there’s little doubt that the figures will be even more positive come the end of December.

“Private label as well as branded organic milk has been performing strongly, with the Yeo Valley brand leading the way—ahead year on year by 147%, according to our most recent data. These figures are despite the fact that there was a shortage of supply at the end of 2006 and early 2007, which held back market growth..”

The £12m EU funded research project compared milk from organic herds to that from non organic cows kept on adjacent farms. Conducted over a four year period, it has shown that the organic milk contains up to 90% more antioxidants, which scientists believe can reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. It follows previous positive research studies that have already shown organic milk to naturally contain far higher levels of omega 3.