An economic downturn may not hurt the U.K. market for organic food products, Robert Duxbury, technical manager for organic products at J Sainsbury PLC told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. "You'll see in recessions people dining out less, going to less restaurants, buying more food to cook at home, therefore that might once again emphasise the need to buy organic food. They'd be more engaged in buying the food that they're going to consume," Duxbury said. Duxbury said organic food sales are clearly a niche market, representing only about 2% of Sainsbury's total food sales. It is, however, a market driven by consumer demand and "ethical and moral" imperatives, he added. The U.K. is the third-biggest European market for organic food, with consumers spending around GBP550 million a year, figures from Datamonitor showed. Germany is the E.U.'s biggest organic market, with consumers spending around GBP1.7 billion a year, and France is the second-biggest, with GBP708 million spent a year.
