Soil Association
The Soil Association is the UK’s leading membership charity campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. The Soil Association is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, charity number 206862 and with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, charity number SCO39168. The Charity has a wholly owned subsidiary Soil Association Certification Limited, the UK’s largest organic certification body. This is run as a not for profit company that as well as helping to deliver parts of the Charity’s strategy also generates financial returns that are ploughed back into the Charity’s wider work. Find out more about Soil Association Certification. The Charity helped to establish and has ongoing involvement in the Soil Association Land Trust. The Land Trust is a charity in its own right, charity number 1121011, established to acquire and maintain farmland sustainably and to connect the public with land stewardship.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Professional association
- Industry Type:
- Soil and Groundwater
- Market Focus:
- Internationally (various countries)
Abou Us
What we do
We deliver our charitable aims under three strategic themes.
Facing the future
Much has changed since the Soil Association was born in 1946. The world's resources are being put under increasing pressure by intensive food and farming systems.
Working with farmers, growers and researchers, we're championing practical solutions to farming's modern day challenges.
Good food for all
Good food should be the easy choice for everyone, whoever and wherever they are.
We're making good food available in nurseries, schools, universities, hospitals, care homes, workplaces and on the high street.
Enabling change
Through our trading subsidiary, Soil Association Certification, we work with over 6,000 businesses. The way these businesses operate achieves real change in the world - they farm without chemicals, they make and serve healthier food and they educate their customers.
History
We started out on a single farm. Now we certify 70% of organic food in the UK.
The Soil Association was founded in 1946 by a group of people who were concerned about the health implications of increasingly intensive farming systems following the Second World War. Their main concerns were:
- The loss of soil through erosion and depletion
- Decreased nutritional quality of food
- Exploitation of animals
- Impact on the countryside and wildlife
Setting organic standards
For the first 30 years, the Soil Association was based on a farm in Suffolk, which was divided into three. The first section of the farm used intensive farming techniques, the second had traditional systems and the third was a mixture of both.
This research, called the Haughley experiment, helped to shape the Soil Association’s first organic standards in 1967. These standards stated that in order to be successful in organic growing you need to create and sustain a ‘living’ soil.
Certification scheme
Our certification scheme launched in 1973, at a time where there was increasing demand from shoppers and farmers for a system that proved food was high-quality and made with integrity.
Today, Soil Association Certification still provides that reassurance, The symbol is more than just a trade mark: it represents a set of standards that are developed to achieve our aims and embody our organic principles of ecology, fairness, care and health. 70% of organic food in the UK is certified by Soil Association Certification.
Support for farmers
In the mid-1980s, a number of supermarkets began to stock organic food, bringing the movement into the mainstream. However, the number of organic farmers remained small until the launch of the Organic Aid Scheme in 1995
The UK government during this time helped farmers through the difficult two - five year organic conversion period. As this support for farmers grew, so did the Soil Association.
A growing movement
The demand for organic food is increasing. Most – around three quarters – is sold in supermarkets. But as more people become concerned about freshness and food miles, the amount of organic food sold through box schemes, farmers' markets and independent shops is growing.
Now, organic land accounts for nearly 4% of all agricultural space in the UK. Organic farmers receive on-going support in recognition of the environmental benefits they deliver. This is encouraging more to manage their land organically.
Our Certification Business
Soil Association Certification is the UK’s leading organic certifier. We offer a huge range of organic and sustainable certification schemes across food, farming, catering, health and beauty, textiles and forestry.
For all schemes we operate, we are an impartial and non-discriminatory control body responsible for ensuring compliance with the respective standards. For more information you can read our impartiality policy.
Soil Association Certification are a leading certifier for schemes ranging from Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®), COSMOS to Food For Life Served Here, and work with a huge range of businesses. Whatever you do, certification is the best way to prove you’re operating to the highest standards of sustainability and integrity.
We also offer inspection services for other schemes, such as British Retail Consortium (BRC) and SALSA. Becoming certified sends a clear message to an ever-growing number of conscious consumers. It shows their products are environmentally and socially responsible, fully traceable and made with the highest integrity.
Soil Association Certification is the wholly owned subsidiary of the Soil Association - we’re part of a charity with a mission. When you certify with us, we make sure your interests are represented. Together Soil Association and Soil Association Certification are in constant dialogue with other standard setters, certifiers, and industry groups and movements both in the UK and internationally.
So, when you join us, you're supporting our drive for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. Profits from our certification services are gift aided to the Soil Association charity to fund their game-changing work. Work that is transforming the way we live, farm and grow; all of which is made possible by you becoming certified.