The latest market information, released last week after certification organisation the Soil Association's annual Organic September campaign, suggests the organisation has been successful in raising the profile of organic food. 

Organic sales, which began to recover earlier in the year, helped at least in part by the horsemeat scandal that rocked Northern Europe in February, appear to have recovered after a four year slump. The Soil Association announced that the "UK organic market is back into good growth with positive figures since the start of 2013."

Organic food sales in September 2013 rose by 9 percent on August figures and by 2 percent compared to last September (the Organic September campaign seeks to raise the profile of organic produce each year). Figures from 2012 showed that, worldwide, the organic sector has enjoyed 25 percent growth since 2009.

In some categories, such as Tea, Cereals and Yoghurts, growth was "exceptional", and sales outstripped non-organic products of the same type.

Throughout the years of declining sales, paragons of the organic sector suggested that supermarkets had been too ready to drop organic lines and reduce shelf-space in 2008, when the current financial crisis first hit, believing that the organic label carried with it the perception of higher cost and that luxury was not the order of the day. However, since the horsemeat scandal laid bare some of the systemic problems of the supermarket model, many believe that consumers' perceptions have shifted, viewing the organic sector as being more transparent and reliable.

As a result, Organic September in 2013 focused on the independent retailer sector, which – particularly through wholefoods stores and box-schemes – has remained a bastion of organic sales for the past few years.

Rob Sexton, Chief Executive of Soil Association Certification commented, "The campaign has been a great success this year, the sales figures speak for themselves. This year's campaign centred around individuals being encouraged to make a personal 'small change', such as switching to organic milk or buying an organic beauty product and highlighted the benefits or the 'big difference' to the environment or farming economy as a result, for me this year's campaign has shown how successful we can be when we start where people are at, with a small change and not perpetuate the myth that it is all or nothing."

Seeds of Change spokesperson Gary Youren said, "Seeds of Change worked closely with key retailers during Organic September – we know the power of 'events' in retail, and Organic September is a key event which both brands and retailers can make the most of. This works best when the event, the brand and the retailer come together. With promotions, hot sampling in Sainsbury’s, coupon-at-till and online activity supporting both Seeds of Change during Organic September we were rewarded with our highest value sales month for over two years. While activity played a part in driving this, we also saw our base sales increase by 11% that month compared to the previous 12 months. This suggests there was some consumer response to the messages in store and elsewhere and shows the power of focusing on event activation for maximum impact."