UK government offers support to organic businesses

21-Sep-2017 - Last updated on 22-Jul-2019 at 11:21 GMT

In further confirmation of the economic strength seen in the segment, recent moves have been made by both the UK government to support organic consumer goods businesses, particularly exporters.

The Department of International Trade (DIT) recently committed to supporting the organic segment in three of its major ‘territory campaigns’: in Germany, France and the US.

In confirmation of this commitment, the government department has now announced a number of opportunities for businesses interested in improving the visibility of their offer in these three countries.

Tradeshow access support

A key area where the UK government is keen to boost the organic segment is in enabling businesses to access important networking and showcasing events.

The DIT offers UK businesses financial support to exhibit at key shows, and has two specifically organic trade shows on its list of eligible events: Biofach in Germany, and Expo West in California, USA.

In a recent blog post, the Soil Association described Expo West as the ‘world’s largest organic and natural trade event’. Biofach, meanwhile, is primarily a food industry event.

The DIT is also hosting a networking event in Paris, France in October for UK businesses looking to make a mark across the Channel.

Details of the support

As the Soil Association outlines, the DIT support for UK organic businesses keen to attend these events is the following:

Biofach: companies are able to attend this sold-out event by joining the UK pavilion, which comes with grant eligibility of £1125 per SME.
Expo West: the UK pavilion offers SMEs the opportunity to apply for grants of £2000.

French market networking event: this is set to coincide with the country’s NatExpo. More details here.