ORGANIC food producers have been striving to move from niche to mainstream in recent years, but the fledgling industry is still battling hard to shake off the “alternative” tag and to persuade more consumers that it is worth paying hefty premiums for its products.

Its current customer profile, according to government statistics, is an affluent, urban mother who is less concerned with the environment than with the health associations surrounding chemical-free foods.

“Organic food is typically promoted in the same way as other specialty, artisan produce,” said Pascal Gillard, the certification manager of the Irish Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA), Ireland’s largest organic organisation.

“The organics business isn’t all sunshine — it is a very tough sector. We have small organisations, small turnovers and it is very difficult to allocate money to promotion and marketing. We are trying to develop but the commitment has only really been shown to it at government level in recent years.”

In 2003, the latest year for which figures are available, the Irish organic food market was worth about €35m but this was anticipated to increase to €86m by the end of 2005 — up-to-date figures are expected in January.

Excluding meat, more than 90% of organic produce consumed in Ireland is imported, and there should be plenty of room for Irish suppliers to enter the market.

The government believes organic production has lagged behind in Ireland precisely because its “green, clean image” has done enough to satisfy domestic consumers that conventional foodstuffs are of excellent quality and traceability.

But it knows that Europe, where the market is now worth an estimated €6 billion and is growing at 30% a year, is the real target rather than SUV-driving suburban Irish mothers.

“The appeal of organic food is more obvious in countries such as the UK and Netherlands where there is a highly developed industrial farming sector and organic food offers an obvious contrast,” the Department of Agriculture said.

The organic market represents just 0.4% of the retail value of total food consumption here, compared with 1.5% in the UK and 9.6% in Austria. For many small producers, however, exports remain a pipe dream as the costs of getting to market are prohibitive. They will continue to sell their wares in Ireland.

Although there are now more than 100 farmers’ markets in Ireland, the real growth in organic sales has come from the increased availability of produce on supermarket shelves. About 62% of consumers now buy their organic food from this source.

“Tesco realises the potential for organic production in Ireland and the long-term plan is to have as much organic produce as possible from Ireland,” said Bill Paterson, the head of product development at Tesco Ireland.

“Customers are aware of organic products. Some would purchase on a regular basis, others not quite so much. Tesco has reduced the price of a number of organic vegetables and fruit since the summer to help customers whose choice is organic.”