Cost-prohibitive organic food is being disrupted by an increasingly popular type of farming called integrated pest management (IPM) where natural pest killers like ladybirds and lacewings scour fruit and vegetable crops to create what advocates say is more affordable and more accessible healthy food.

The difference between organic and IPM, broccoli farmer Stuart Grigg tells SmartCompany, is that organic farming relies on only natural remedies, whereas IPM farming uses organic principles and adopts a “strategic use” of pesticides when necessary — the best of both worlds, he says.

And there’s certainly an appetite for the increasingly popular type of farming in stores, [Ceres owner Chris] Ennis adds, which can be up to 30% cheaper than organic. He says within four weeks the IPM fruit and vegetable boxes have “become consistently one of our top three selling produce boxes — last week it was number one”.

“Individual IPM produce we sell like broccoli, cauliflower and celery are selling at a ratio of 60:40 organic to IPM,” he says, equating to about 150%, adding “We’re bringing in more IPM fruit and veg lines to meet the demand”.

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