June 2011 Prepared Foods -- As the U.S. continues to recover from a trying economic period, the market for generally higher-priced organic products in the country continues to enjoy growth, even if it may be at a slower pace than in previous years. According to the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) “2011 Organic Industry Survey,” total sales of U.S. organic consumer products exceeded $28.6 billion in 2010, as sales of the products outpaced total sales of comparable conventional food and non-foods by a sizable margin. Total food sales grew by less than 1% in 2010; sales of organic food, on the other hand, increased 7.7% during the same time. (It might be of interest to note the OTA report classifies organic supplements as part of the non-food segment. Organic supplements far and away led that pack, with $681 million, 7.4% growth over its 2009 numbers and well ahead of $605 million in sales of organic fiber. For that matter, the OTA tracks pet food among non-foods, as well, and notes that, as of 2009 numbers, the segment had seen “sizable sales increases over the last eight years.”)
The leading segment among organic foods has been the fruit and vegetable category, a nearly $10.6 billion segment accounting for 39.7% of the market share of organic food products. Furthermore, it shows no signs of slowing, as the segment enjoyed the highest year-on-year growth for any organic food category in 2010: 11.8%. Organic dairy remained the second-largest organic food category, enjoying 9% growth and reaching $3.9 billion—nearly 6% of the total U.S. market for dairy products. Organic dairy and meats had seen their growth slip in recent years, owing to such factors as price decreases in conventional milk and the wide price gaps between conventional and organic in meats and dairy, but the segments and the category as a whole continue to enjoy year-on-year sales increases.