With all the talk of economic downturn, you might think more consumers would be opting out of the often pricier organic market in favour of cheaper fare. Well, it all depends on where you live.
Whether driven by fears about global warming or general concern for their health and wellbeing, Americans are voting for a cleaner, greener way of eating and drinking with their hard-earned dollars and, according to research firm Packaged Facts, they will continue to do so in greater numbers.
The demand for organic and natural products has seen the industry move beyond the grass-roots reaction to an increasingly commodified food market to a multi-billion-dollar industry that is proving every bit as attractive for heavy-hitting corporates.
The report (not so snappily named Natural and Organic Food and Beverage Trends in the U.S.: Current and Future Patterns in Production Marketing, Retailing, and Consumer Usage, 2nd Edition) details the rise and rise of the industry and forecasts continued good times ahead, with double digit growth for at least another five years.
But not everyone is enjoying the boom times. There have been plenty of failures amid the myriad success stories of organic produce, with the report’s authors maintaining that innovation and integrity are integral to cutting it with savvy green consumers. Even the big boys, with their huge marketing budgets, have lost some big bucks venturing into the market, with Packaged Facts citing Nabisco and Kellogg’s among the victims. If you really want the organic, or green, dollar, it seems you need to show you share the green values.
In the UK, however, it’s not company values – perceived or otherwise – that are hitting the organic food and beverage market, but folk tightening the proverbial belts. Market research company TNS has watched organic sales rise tenfold in the past 10 years, but the latest figures tell a different story.
Sales fell by nearly a fifth in August from a peak in February this year, with the sharpest decline recorded in eggs, which is down 18 percent on the same period last year. According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, shoppers are still buying more ethical alternatives, but it’s free range rather than the more expensive organic. Noble Foods, the UK’s biggest egg marketer, has reportedly converted some of its organic farms back to conventional farming and advised other producers to do the same if they want to stay in business.
The Guardian says there are also signs that conversions to organic production are slowing.
