Report: Organic produce sees ‘incremental growth’ By Bob Johnson
Meanwhile, movement of organic pro- duce went up by 0.8% year over year, the market data firm Category Partners and the Organic Produce Network reported. This reverses a downward trend that start- ed in 2021. The analysis said performance of organ- ic produce continues to see “incremental growth,” while the trend for conventional produce has dropped since 2020. A key reason is inflation, which increased
the average price per pound of conven- tional produce by 3.2% during the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022, while the average price per pound of organic produce rose by 0.8%, the report noted. “This shift suggests that inflation, while still evident, was not as apparent in organic produce,” the report said. The report is based on Nielsen data from supermarkets, club stores, dollar
stores, convenience stores and mili- tary commissaries. For the past two years, organic produce has increased in dollar sales but decreased in volume as some consumers shied away from higher prices. Tom Barnes, chief executive officer of Category Partners, said in a statement that the second quarter report indicated organ- ics “broke away from the trend of volume loss that 2021 and 2022 witnessed.” “Current trends indicate that organic produce is experiencing higher growth in both dollars and volume compared to its conventional counterparts,” said Barnes, a 20-year veteran of statistical analysis of produce trends. Organic berries did particularly well in the second quarter, increasing to 72 million pounds for the three months to overtake packaged salads for the top spot among organic produce items, while most organic produce products enjoyed growth. Supplies of berries have been limited in recent weeks due to weather, said Gary Connors, bush berry category manager for Watsonville-based California Giant Berry Farms, which grows and ships convention- al and organic strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. Connors said he remains skeptical about the long-range growth of organic berries because of the continuing price differential. “People don’t want to pay the price,” he said. “They want to pay the same price for organic as conventional, and it just doesn’t work.” Barnes noted that while prepackaged salads led in organic produce retail sales dollars during the first three months of 2023, the performance of berries topped salads in the second quarter. Other categories that experienced no- ticeable jumps in volume were onions, citrus, avocados, herbs and bell peppers, Barnes reported. Regional differences in growth indicate the appeal of organics continues across the nation, with the South and Midwest showing the greatest rise in volume while the West and Northeast saw slight declines in volume but increases in dollars spent on organic produce. “The South region continues to show the most improvement year over year,” Barnes said, adding “the potential for growth in the South will continue.” In the second quarter, the volume of or- ganic produce sales went up 3.2% in the South and 2% in the Midwest, according to the report. As produce sales continue to move toward a post-pandemic new normal, Barnes said it looks as though organics will gain market share at the expense of con- ventional because inflation has recently slowed more in organic produce. “These price changes are consistent with previous trends noted in this report, where organic inflation is slowing and con- ventional inflation continues to progress,” he said. (Bob Johnson is a reporter in Monterey County. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)
Sales of organic fresh produce increased in volume during the second quarter of
2023 for the first time since inflation took off two years ago, ac- cording to an industry
analysis of sales and price trends. Organic fresh produce sales grew by 1.5%, topping $2.4 billion during the second quar- ter compared to the same period in 2022.
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18 Ag Alert August 23, 2023
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