Organic Food Franchising Opportunities

Once the preserve of a small number of devotees, it seems like the age of organic food is upon us. With growing numbers of people concerned about the effects of artificial additives in non-organic food, as well as their effects on the ecosystem, this is both a health and environmental issue.

The organic food industry is booming and people wanting to enter this field can do so through a number of franchises.

Organic food products are items that have been created naturally, with no pesticides or chemicals being added.

Figures released by the UK's Soil Association show that sales growth increased by 30 per cent in 2005 to a total of 1.6 billion, which was a rise of 7 million a week on average.

In contrast, the current annual growth for all UK food and drink sales is around three per cent.

The Soil Association said that two out of three consumers (65.4 per cent) are now knowingly buying organics.

Organic food is also becoming more popular in the US. The Organic Trade Association recently revealed that sales totalled nearly $14 billion in 2005, almost double the $7.1 billion recorded in 2001.

When it comes to choosing a franchise, people can own a store or deliver products in vans.

If franchisees run an organic food shop, they need to ensure the location is best suited for the type of business.

It should be in an area of a town or city that people can easily access and where a large number of people go. However, while having a few other food stores in the area could help the business to attract hungry customers, too many would dent profitability - particularly if they sell organic food - and so franchisees must look into their competition in detail.

If delivering organics, franchisees can work from home or an office, but they should carry out extensive market research to find out which areas of a town and city and what types of people buy the most organic food so they can be prioritised.

Going to a franchised business will benefit people because it will already have a number of company suppliers and farmers in place to provide the organic food, enabling franchisees to quickly build up a customer base.

This is particularly important in the organic food industry as like all organics that are sold, those that produce organic food and sell it must have a licence to do so and franchisees will not have to worry about their initial suppliers as the franchiser will have checked their credentials.

Of course, when looking to bring in new suppliers, franchisees need to ensure they are legally able to sell this food type.

In addition, franchisers will train franchisees to understand the principles of organic food process, how the food is supplied, for example a new trend developing is box schemes where framers turn up to your house or shop with goods in a box that you can buy, and how to market the products to the public.

This will enable franchisees to talk with knowledge and confidence about organics to customers, which will increase the chances of them using the business again.