During the five months of pandemic fresh produce shopping, organic has outperformed conventional.
As Organic Produce Network co-founder Tonya Antle asked on OPN’s August 19 webinar, what will it take for organic produce to crack the “10 percent of overall sales” barrier?
“The barrier is supply,” said Steve Lutz, senior vice president of Category Partners, on the webinar. “When consumers have more organic options, they will increase purchases. That’s what the numbers indicate.”
Lutz also said price remains a barrier for the casual organic shopper.
He said organic fruits and vegetables cost about double than that of conventional, on average, and that discourages some purchases.
“The highest growing categories – bananas, carrots, apples – have the smallest price gap,” Lutz said.
Frank Padilla, vice president and general merchandising manager, produce & meat for Costco Wholesale Corporation, BB #:150902 Issaquah, WA, said on the webinar that organic sales have been strong at his stores this summer, and that’s partially attributable to the good weather many growing regions have seen.
For the most part, Costco has adjusted well to the pandemic issues, but at least one problem remains.
“Sampling and demos have been curtailed and we don’t know when it will be back,” he said, noting that sampling leads to millions of members’ unplanned purchases.
Padilla said Costco is taking advantage of the consumer cooking trend in the absence of many restaurants still, and that’s seen in the strong demand for organic Brussels sprouts and mushrooms.
OPN’s webinar, What a Year It’s Been…So Far. 2020 Organics in Review” can be seen here.
