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Organic Baby & Toddler Care Market Assessment 2007
Key Note Publications Ltd, July 2007, Pages: 138
The organic food sector for babies and toddlers is the largest within the organic baby and toddler care market. It is also the fastest-growing sector within the total (including non-organic) baby and toddler food market. Its success, coupled with an increasing concern over the amount of disposable nappies going to landfill, has also sparked a greater interest in reusable nappies. This sector — which is very much a cottage industry populated by `mumtrepreneurs' or work at home mums (WAHMs) — is moving gradually into the mainstream, with some large supermarkets stocking reusable (cloth or `real') nappies and Boots, for example, producing its own brand of reusables.
The convenience of disposable nappies is not in doubt, but only one brand manufactures completely biodegradable nappies available in the UK, with a further four brands that are largely biodegradable. However, such is the dominance of the two major brands — Huggies and Pampers — that the more eco-friendly disposables are primarily only available through mail order or independent health-food shops.
It is the WAHM sector that is largely supporting the organic movement in the UK, with legions of mothers (and some fathers) setting up their own online businesses selling organic products for babies and toddlers sourced from around the world. Some are manufacturers in their own right. New mothers, finding the lack of availability of healthy nutritious foods for their own babies, have set up small mail-order companies selling their own recipes made from organic ingredients sourced locally wherever possible. Some of these manufacturers are finding their own niche within the more upmarket branches of some supermarkets.
Some small family-run manufacturing businesses have found their own niches in toys or organic clothing and bedding, some of which are part of a wider diversification scheme from farms converted to organic farming methods.
The amount of organic land increased overall between 2003 and 2005, although with the loss of some hillside farms in Scotland in recent years, the amount of in-conversion land fell in 2004 and 2005. Farmers in the UK and in the cotton-growing regions were reluctant to convert while the market for organic produce and goods seemed uncertain. Although the organic market is still very much in its infancy, awareness is growing and with baby foods leading the way, other sectors will follow. There is already concern that demand may outstrip supply.
There are several drivers for consumers choosing a more organic lifestyle for themselves and their children. Their main worry is the health of their infants. Growing concern over the number of chemicals used in food production has fuelled the growth in the organic baby food market. However, concern over the environment is also a priority for these parents as is interest in ethical trading, as evidenced by the growth in Fairtrade.
The publisher invited a number of key industry professionals to take part in a virtual roundtable discussion for this report. Almost all of those interviewed cited a lack of available information as a key issue in the organic baby and toddler care market, alongside the lack of availability and the higher costs of organic produce and products.
For those who are already concerned about healthy eating, the environment and the working conditions of the producers, there is a wealth of information. The publisher had many resources upon which it could call in compiling this report. However, for busy parents with barely time to read the labels and only the mainstream media to draw on for information, there is much confusion, especially when they read conflicting reports regarding the safety of the fungicides and pesticides used in food production. Many of the chemicals used have been shown to have serious implications for health, especially in developing babies and toddlers, but government reports state that at the levels in which they are found in foods they are safe. However, the rising number of children developing cancers, the increasing incidence of asthma and eczema in children and the rapid acceleration of childhood obesity are beginning to suggest otherwise.
The problem is further compounded by the often misleading marketing used for non-organic products by brands that want to exploit parents' health fears, using terms such as `natural' and `fresh' for products that are often anything but in the common understanding of the terms, but which have no meaning in law.
This report looks in-depth at the underlying factors that are driving producers, manufacturers and consumers towards a more organic approach, examining in detail the problems that are increasingly being found with the use of synthetic chemicals in production. Looking at five different sectors — baby and infant food, nappies, clothing and bedding, toiletries and hygiene products, and toys — the report comments on the size of the market, identifies the prime producers and retailers and examines the issues raised by conventional production methods in each sector.
Around the world, farms are converting to organic methods for crops and for fibres. Cotton farmers are beginning to reap the benefits of organic farming methods in decreased associated illnesses (and even deaths) and increased yields. New crops, particularly bamboo, are also being identified as an exciting source of raw materials for organic textiles and with many high-street brands entering the organic cotton market, the organic textiles market will inevitably grow.
Despite the fervour of those already involved in the organic market, the major brands need to adapt their own production methods to organic for the market to grow sufficiently large to reach a much greater number of consumers — and in so doing improve the health of a much greater number of people.
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