Enjoy Organic to pull out of grocery market

The Enjoy Organic Company is quitting the grocery business to focus solely on bakery products in a move that signals the end of the company as a standalone venture.

This week, the company announced that it would be focusing only on bread products to increase investment. A statement says: “It has been decided that the most effective way to do this will be to focus on a more limited, core portfolio of products.”

Enjoy Organic, which is owned by RHM Foods, was launched in 2000 and is the tenth-largest organic food company. Its range includes pasta sauces, pasta, rice and noodles, bread and cake. It launched with about 30 products and Claydon Heeley Jones Mason was appointed to create a &£4m integrated campaign. The company is, however, believed to have faced stiff opposition from Masterfoods’ organic arm, Seeds of Change.

British Bakeries will now run Enjoy Organic and its managing director, Harriet Rhys Williams, a former Bisto Foods marketing director, will cede responsibility to British Bakeries brands director Paula Moss. The parent company is in consultation with the rest of the staff, including marketing manager Ian Hills.

Rhys Williams denies that her company’s demise is a sign that UK consumers are tiring of organic food. She says: “I don’t think anyone should be pessimistic about the future of organic food. People get very depressed about the figures but it is still growing at a double-digit rate.”