UK sales of 'ethical' foods surge

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Sales of organic and fair-trade food products in the UK will hit £2bn in 2006, analyst firm Mintel has said.

Should the prediction turn out to be accurate, then total spend on organic and fair-trade products would have grown 62% since 2002.

This reflects a general change in attitudes among consumers, Mintel said.

For example, three-quarters of the 1,007 consumers surveyed said that they thought it was their "duty" to recycle waste products, up from 65% in 2002.

Higher incomes and a greater choice of products have helped boost sales of organic and fair-trade goods, Mintel added.

The company said that about 70 fairtrade and organic products were launched in 2005 alone, compared with 25 in 2002.

"Ethical food suppliers have traded on the fringes of the UK grocery market for many years and until recently only a few sectors, such as free-range eggs, had really established themselves," said Julie Sloan, Mintel's senior market analyst.

"But now many more ethical products have entered the mainstream-foods sector, with leading suppliers and retailers becoming increasingly involved."