It's only natural

The rapid rise of organic food sales in supermarkets indicates the public's growing desire to buy natural, unadulterated produce and products. But while the total value of retail sales of organic goods rose from £134m in 1999 to £491m in 2000 - and should exceed £1b by early 2002 - the restaurant industry appears to be lagging a long way behind.

At present, there are only 20 restaurants and caf‚s around the country that are officially registered as organic. As well as serving food made from ingredients that have either been grown without the aid of synthetic fungicides, pesticides and herbicides or raised in non-intensive systems, some of the businesses go very much further by using only environment-friendly cleaning products, organic cottons for soft furnishings, and glasses that are recycled.

There are, of course, many more restaurants where, every day, chefs use a proportion of organic produce in their kitchens, but, without certification, it is illegal for them to proclaim on their menus that they are serving organic dishes. The Soil Association, one of several certification organisations that operate under the guidance of the United Kingdom Register of Organic Standards (see below), will currently license only those restaurants which operate menus that are 100% organic.

The process of certification is lengthy and arduous, with rigorous annual inspections before licences are renewed. Restaurants have to comply with requirements originally written for the very different kinds of operations run by food producers and manufacturers - which operate in controlled environments, often supplying only one or two ingredients, or producing a small selection of dishes. For restaurants, all ingredients have to be purchased from certified organic suppliers.

"It is often unrealistic for a fast-moving restaurant operation, with a frequently changing menu, to fully comply with all the requirements," admits Lee Holdstock, certification officer for the Soil Association, which in 1996 became the first body to issue an organic licence to a restaurant with the registration of Penrhos Court at Kington in Herefordshire.

The Soil Association is working with representatives of the catering industry to rewrite the criteria for restaurant certification to provide a more flexible approach. Holdstock says: "We are looking at ways in which a restaurant can operate an organic menu alongside a non-organic menu, but it would require a great deal of organisation on the part of the restaurateur and chef, with separate areas for the storage and preparation of organic and non-organic ingredients. This is something that can be more easily achieved in a food manufacturing process, where there can be two separate lines of production, but in a restaurant situation, with one kitchen, there is a high risk of contamination."

Antony Worrall Thompson - who briefly ran an organic restaurant, the 70-seat Bistro Organic in London's West Kensington - would like to see a rating system whereby a restaurant could be certified as being, for example, 50%, 60% or 70% organic, according to the minimum amount of organic produce it buys. "This," he says, "would show a restaurant's commitment to organic food, but also provide for those occasions when a chef is not able to source the quantity and quality of organic produce that he requires."

Holdstock, though, believes that this would be a purely cosmetic effort, and there would still be the need for restaurants to separate organic and non-organic production.

While many chefs and restaurateurs support the ethics behind running an entirely organic operation, the reality for many is that there is still not the availability and reliability of supplies to support such a venture. This is particularly the case for restaurants that would prefer to buy British produce. With an estimated 4,000 organic farmers in Britain, on just 3% of all agricultural land, it is no surprise that four-fifths of all organic fruit and vegetables sold in the UK are imported.

It was this lack of consistently available indigenous supplies of the quality that he demanded which forced Worrall Thompson to close Bistro Organic 18 months ago. "I don't see the point of buying food that is produced 10,000 miles away for a small neighbourhood restaurant," he says.

He adds: "I also wanted to only buy seasonal produce, and that was not always possible, as there were not enough home-grown goods to meet the demand, or they were often not suitable for my business. Organic food needs a sexier image, and producing huge carrots - as most organic growers seem to - is not very sexy. There is no reason why organic growers cannot pick their carrots while they are still small."

Singhboulton, the company that opened the UK's first certified organic pub - the Duke of Cambridge in Islington, London, in December 1998 - also must look abroad for around 55% of the vegetables it buys. Geetie Singh, who with her business partner, Esther Boulton, now runs three organic pubs in London, says: "We would prefer to buy more British ingredients, but the Government does not do enough to encourage organic farmers in this country, so there is not enough British produce to go around."

The menus at Singhboulton's three pubs - the other two being the Crown in Hackney and the Pelican in Ladbroke Grove - are changed twice daily in response to whatever supplies are available. "I don't think it would be possible to run an organic set menu, as the produce deteriorates quickly," says Singh. "It requires a very high calibre of chef to cope with the situation, as they have the constant challenge of having to create dishes as the food arrives in the kitchen."

Dishes on a recent menu at the Duke of Cambridge included white bean and chilli soup with greens (£4), roasted loin of lamb stuffed with tapenade with pepperonata and polenta chips (£14), and fig, raspberry and almond tart with cream (£5).

The perception that the high cost of organic food, compared with conventionally produced supplies, makes it difficult for a restaurant to run a financially successful business is refuted by the success of companies such as Singhboulton, which currently has an annual turnover of £2.5m but expects to achieve £3.5m by the end of the year. It operates on a gross profit of 65-70%.

Some larger organisations have gone the organic route too, with varying degrees of success. The purchasing manager of Pizza Piazza, Jane Sharp, points out that one of its three Pizza Organic restaurants has, at 22%, the lowest food cost in the 21-unit group. "We are quite proud of that fact," she says. "It goes to show that, if a restaurant is in the right location to attract business and if it is managed well, the figures can be achieved, whether or not it is run organically."

There were originally five Pizza Organic restaurants in the group, but two, in Horsham and Oxford, were converted back to Pizza Piazzas after showing poor sales. Sharp puts these failures down to poor locations, on the edge of their respective towns. The three remaining Pizza Organics - in South Kensington and Ealing, both in London, and Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire - are performing well, with turnover in South Kensington increasing by 50% since conversion from a Pizza Piazza 18 months ago.

There is no doubt that all the fully fledged, certified organic restaurants share a commitment to and unyielding support for their cause. Daphne Lambert has run the 30-seat restaurant at Penrhos Court since 1975 and opened 15 bedrooms 10 years ago. She has always used as much organic produce as possible, although in the early days all she could get was flour and some meat. But now Lambert says that there is nothing she cannot get in organic form - even the bedsheets and the bathroom toiletries are organic, although she admits that such items are very expensive. Bed and breakfast at Penrhos Court costs £90 for two, with a five-course, daily-changing set menu charged at £31.50.

While the demand for an organic way of living is obviously on the increase, Lambert stresses that she doesn't run the business simply to meets the demands of a niche market.

"As a chef and a nutritionist," she says, "I passionately believe that I should only serve food that is healthy and good for my guests - and that means buying organic."

Certification organisations

In order to legally produce or serve food or ingredients which are described as organic, every farmer, manufacturer and restaurant must be registered with one of the UK's certification organisations. Each has a logo, which will appear on food packaging or menus, and which is intended to act as a guarantee that the ingredients concerned are indeed organic.

United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards
Tel: 020 7238 5915 UKROFS ensures that all producers adhere to the strict EU guidelines governing the sale of organic food. It comes under the auspices of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and oversees all the certification bodies, ensuring that their standards of inspection are up to scratch. It does not provide registration for restaurants.

Soil Association Certification
Tel: 0117 914 2407 Founded in 1946, the Soil Association is the UK's largest and best-known organic food and farming organisation. It is highly active in researching and promoting organic farming and has called on the Government to support the conversion of 30% of all agricultural land to organic farming within the next 10 years, which would cost an estimated £285m annually. So far, the Government has refused to set any targets for the expansion of organic farming. There are at present 11 restaurants and caf‚s certified by the Soil Association.

Organic Food Federation
Tel: 01760 7204444 OFF was formed 15 years ago and is a trade federation for the organic food industry. It represents manufacturers of organic foods, and importers of organic produce and products. Two food service companies have been certified by OFF - Fresh & Wild, which has six food retail outlets incorporating caf‚s, and the juice bar business Fluid, which has three units.

Organic Farmers and Growers
Tel: 01743 440512 OF&G was formed in 1975 by a group of farmers and now lists farmers, growers, wholesalers, packers, processors and manufacturers among its members - but no restaurateurs.

Bio-Dynamic Agricultural Association
Tel: 0131-624 3921 Farms carrying the BDAA's Demeter symbol operate a form of self-sufficiency, growing their own animal feed and using their own manure and compost to fertilise the land. The organisation, which is a charity founded in 1924, is considering issuing certification for the first time to a hotel/restaurant in Scotland.

Scottish Organic Producers' Association
Tel: 01786 458090 Set up in 1988 to promote the interests of Scottish organic producers, SOPA does not issue certification to restaurants.