Customers turning to organic amid food 'scandals'

'Scandals’, including the horsemeat scare and bird flu crisis, have prompted an increasing number of people to opt for organic foods, revealed OBE Organic Australia general manager Dalene Wray.

The company is exhibiting at Gulfood for the second time this year, after showcasing it organic beef product last year.

Wray said that while organic vegetables had "come on leaps and bounds" in the last 12 months, the general trend was for people to show an increased interest in the organic sector when questioning food integrity.

“It doesn’t have to be with beef or horsemeat but when there’s bird flu or the tainted milk story in China – people become more interested in integrity of the food supply chain so people ask us lots of questions," said Wray.

“We don’t like hearing about tainted milk in China but there’s nothing wrong with the media questioning what manufacturers are doing with their products. As an organic consumer I ask those questions – the world wouldn’t be a safe place if there was no scandal,” she added.