GAGA FOR ORGANIC FOOD
Despite the added cost for shoppers, it’s more popular than ever
Organic food sales are setting records as more mainstream Americans fill their shopping carts with everything from eggs to gummy fruit snacks.
Having shed its hippy- dippy image, organic food is among the faster- growing categories in supermarkets even though it adds to food bills and studies vary when it comes to perceived health benefits.
Organic food producers, which now include giants such as General Mills, are capturing more consumers such as business coach Patty Lennon of Brookfield, Conn.
“It’s produced in a healthier way, without pesticides, without any bad things that contaminate the growth of the food and the growth of my kids,” the 45- yearold mother of two said. “As my kids grow up, I want to know I’ve done everything I could to put the right things in their bodies.” Sure, organic costs more. Lennon estimates the $ 450 she spends on groceries weekly would drop to $ 275 or $ 300 if she bought the usual non- organic products. “I have the luxury of being able to afford it,” she said.
There are millions of other shoppers like her as organic has moved into the mainstream.
Sales of organic food hit a record $ 43 billion last year, up 8.4% from the previous year, according to the Organic Trade
Association based in Washington, D. C.. Compare that to the 0.6% growth rate in the overall food category.
But it still has a long way to go: Overall, organic food now represents 5.3% of total retail food sales in the U. S.
Interest in organic products is booming not only because of a more conscientious consumer but also because of rising incomes in a strong economy and improved farming practices that make organic yields more robust.
Organic’s rising importance was underscored by Amazon’s offer to buy Whole Foods Market, the upscale grocery chain known for its expansive produce selection, for $ 13.7 billion.
“There’s an increasing awareness of organic products,” said Rupesh Parikh, investment bank Oppenheimer’s senior analyst for food, grocery and consumer products, who predicts continued double- digit annual growth. “Consumers are really looking more into what they’re eating.”
The most popular organic items are fruits and vegetables, which account for close to 40% of all organic food sales, the Organic Trade Association found. Organic produce sales grew at more than twice the rate of total fruit and vegetable sales.
Almost 15% of veggies and fruit consumed in the U. S. is now organic.
There’s also a willingness to pay more. Some 44% of shoppers would pay an extra 20% or more for organic fresh vegetables, and 37% are willing to hand over that much more cash for organic poultry, according to a study by the Hartman Group, a food and beverage research firm in Bellevue, Wash.