MONTEREY, CA — In the wake of a global pandemic affecting physical health, rising inflation affecting financial health, and extreme swings in weather conditions bringing environmental health to the forefront, consumers are reevaluating their consumption.
“The last few years consumers are morphing this idea of their own personal health with the health of the planet and social responsibility, the healthy of others,” said Sherry Frey, vice president of total wellness at NielsenIQ during her keynote address at the Organic Produce summit.
“When you ask them why…over 60% of them say, ‘I think the environment is having a negative impact on my health,’’ she said.
NielsenIQ noticed sentiment of “Better For” it lost some of its momentum versus Total Food & Beverage growth when inflation was especially high, in 2022, but toward the end of 2023, consumers appeared to shift back toward the category, Frey said.
That bodes well for organics. Organic, especially organic produce, is performing better than non-organic over the past four years.
While non-organics are up 20 percent in dollars, they’re down eight percent in units. Organic produce showed 22 percent growth in dollars and five percent growth in units.
Conventional grocers, warehouse clubs, premium natural and organic grocers and online is where the organic sales growth is over-indexing, with mass merchandisers and supercenters lagging.
Vegetables and fruit are the top two categories for organic across 736 store categories, followed by beverages, milk products, prepared foods and fresh meat.
The reasons consumers are turning toward organics are shifting as well. While the birth of a first child has historically been a huge trigger for the consumption shift, Frey said we’re seeing other life events coming to the forefront, including:
- a second born child;
- sending a child to daycare; and
- menopause.
Frey broke down spending and future spending by generation, noting a lot of attention goes to younger consumers, but reinforced that Baby Boomers are still very much relevant to organic produce sales, making up 34% of sales dollars.
“We always like what’s new, but these boomers are so important,” she said. “Their spend is so critical. They’re not driving any growth, but don’t discount boomers.”
As consumers age, they become more concerned with health and well-being, particularly mental health and brain health.
“They’re very focused on mental cognition,” Frey said. “This is why they are eating more fruits and vegetables. This is why they’re eating more organic fruits and vegetables.”
