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WELLINGTON - United States food industry officials say dairy foods are the largest and fastest-growing component of the surge in organic foodstuffs.
The executive director of the United States Organic Trade Association, Katherine DiMatteo, said organic milk was a leading seller in the United States, though it was not commonly available
even five years ago.
Tripp Hughes, assistant product manager of Horizon Organic Dairy in Boulder, Colorado, said the dairy category was driving the overall growth of the organic market.
The organic dairy category was growing at over 50 per cent a year and experienced a record $US300 million ($598 million) sales year in 1998, leading the organic category into growth of approximately 20 per cent.
The 2003 predictions for sales of organic products averaged around $US13 billion, compared with $US6 billion in 2000.
In addition, the US Department of Agriculture's pending rule on organic standards is expected to boost the United States' organic industry as a whole, including the cheese category.
In New Zealand, just 18 of the nation's 14,700 dairy farms are certified for organic production but the Dairy Board has just announced it will test the marketing in Britain of organic butter made with milk from Austria.
In the United States, Ms DiMatteo said that as many as 75 per cent of the customers the association had surveyed said that a national certified system for organics would give them increased confidence in organic products.
Cheese was expected to be the flagship product to fulfil that market.
Under present trade arrangements, the US has been very effective at imposing quotas on imports of New Zealand cheese, allowing in only about 19,000 tonnes. - NZPA
