Going organic needs flexibility

Supermarkets have seen many changes in recent years. Along with the explosion in the ready meals sector, the development of in-store bakeries and the advent of deli counters, organic food has made its mark with huge increases in sales and more to come.

Consumers are voting with their heads, choosing organic items for their perceived taste and health benefits. So it should follow that, throughout the length and breadth of the UK, organic restaurants are increasing in numbers, mirroring the trend in retail outlets. Not so. There are, in fact, just 20 restaurants and cafés that are officially registered as organic.

It's not that restaurateurs aren't interested in this sector - most committed chefs want to work with the best produce and to serve only the healthiest food. And, at the recent Catering Forum event, some of the best-attended sessions were those that focused on the organic sector.

But the procedures that currently govern gaining organic certification place a straitjacket on restaurateurs who might otherwise be willing to give going organic their best shot.

Of course, guidelines must exist. They protect the consumer and prevent the unscrupulous from taking a commercial punt on what is clearly a lucrative market. But, as things stand, the controls are unnecessarily rigid, and to the restaurateur, already bogged down in a sea of red tape, they appear to make life difficult for no good reason.

It doesn't help that there a number of certification organisations, some of which deal with restaurateurs, some of which do not, and which, by virtue of their numbers, are likely to have different views on how a bid to become truly organic should be interpreted.

In fairness, representatives from leading certification body the Soil Association have already acknowledged that the current rules are more appropriate to retail than to hospitality, and have indicated that they are willing to consider a more flexible approach. This is a good start, and one which restaurateurs should pursue.

A compromise would be to allow organic menus to be operated alongside non-organic counterparts. Potential contamination is cited as a reason against this, but restaurateurs, already masters of the complexities of food safety, are used to separating food items, and there is no reason why well-organised establishments should not be able to manage this dual approach.

In the longer term, a key issue that needs to be addressed is that of the supply chain. Organic farming in this country accounts for a tiny percentage of the total, with seemingly no commitment from Government to increase it. Restaurateurs who are committed to buying organic food from UK sources will therefore have only a small and possibly inconsistent base to choose from, again putting them at a disadvantage against retail giants, which have huge purchasing power and can source food from overseas.

This is a tougher nut to crack, and one for which there is no immediate solution. But for those interested in going organic, there is a key opportunity to work alongside certification bodies to lobby Government for a change in attitude towards organic farming.

That could lead to greater benefits for all concerned, and it is not beyond the realms of the imagination that restaurants may one day produce organic ready meals to be sold on supermarket shelves.

Jenny Webster, Deputy editor,Caterer & Hotelkeeper