Corporations
monopolise the Organic market
Organic is increasingly becoming the buzzword
for food corporations who are set on targeting
the changing views of British consumers. Supermarket
conglomerates are forever expanding their organic
ranges and promoting their loyal relationships
with small local producers. Yet there seems
to be a dubious connection with supermarkets
and the organic market, as surely mass production
and organic production are adverse to each other.
While supermarkets make a dash for the organic
market, have they not fallen short of understanding
the true ethos behind organic products?
As
organic becomes a marketing tool in the emerging
health conscious Britain, its questionable whether
the organic message has been lost and replaced
with a bag of organic carrots.
Supermarkets are mass-producing
products, which are not necessarily ‘green’
or of high quality, such is demonstrated with
the paradox of organic ready meals, where consumers
are lured into buying a ‘fresh, healthy
green’ eating experience. As we become
more divorced from real food production, unnecessary
plastic packaging with pictures of green meadows
and farmers seem to reassure us and connect
us with the token British farmer.
Until recently the organic market
was dominated by small producers, who offered
an alternative to supermarkets but all this
seems to be changing as supermarkets move in
for domination. I am interested to know what
will happen to these small producers if we continue
to purchase our organic goods at supermarkets?
Indeed, what does the future hold
for smaller organic businesses when they face
such large competitors? I asked Anthony Heurtier,
creator and chocolatier of the newly established
company The Chocolate Empire to share his thoughts
and enlighten me on the potential hardship of
setting up a small organic chocolate company.
He strangely reassured me that he didn’t
fear the big players “supermarkets don’t
pose any threat to me, if anything they make
my products stand out from the uniform and sterile
aspect of supermarket chains. I think that people
are getting sick of supermarkets and my customers
seem to relish the fact that my chocolates are
individual and have been sourced with only the
finest ingredients”.
Surprised
by Anthony’s relaxed attitude to the situation,
he went on to explain to me that supermarkets
will never be able to produce the same quality
products “all my chocolates are free from
artificial additives and flavourings, which
just wouldn’t be possible with supermarkets,
as they require a ridiculously long shelf life”.
Anthony has set himself a tall
order but after trying his chocolates I would
have to agree with him, and I now understand
his confidence. His chocolates are truly sublime
and push the boundaries of traditional chocolates
by using interesting ingredients such as lemongrass,
goji berries and bergamot. Anthony’s relationship
with chocolate is very much a personal one and
couldn’t be further away from mass produced
chocolates “making chocolate is an art
form, you have to have the best ingredients
and the process can not be rushed”.
As consumers it is up to us to
step away from supermarket gimmicks and to source
real organic food which is of high quality and
tastes great, perhaps we need to reassess the
meaning of ‘organic’ and not be
lured in by the convenience of mass produced
products bearing the organic stamp.
For
more information on Anthony’s organic
chocolates go to his website:
http://www.thechocolateempire.co.uk
