Organic and “natural” foods and beverages continue to gain appeal, driven in part by more consumers cooking at home and increased interest in health and safety. In an online consumer poll of “likely organic” shoppers conducted last spring by the Organic Trade Association (OTA), 90% of respondents said organic is “more important than ever.”
Organic food sales surpassed $50B in 2019, an increase of 4.6% over the previous year, reports the OTA. And according to market research firm SPINS, preliminary data for 2020 show that weekly sales of organic products actually topped those of non-organic between June 28 and August 9, while overall year-over-year sales of organic products in 2020 exceeded those of 2019. One data point for the week ending August 9 indicates that sales of organic products increased 12.4% year over year compared to 10.7% for non-organic products.