06.01.10
Reaching nearly $27 billion in 2009, organic product sales grew by more than 5% despite the distressed state of the economy, according to the Organic Trade Association’s “2010 Organic Industry Survey.” Of that figure, about $25 billion represented organic food. While total U.S. food sales only grew about 2% in 2009, organic food sales grew by 5%. Meanwhile, organic non-food sales grew by more than 9%, as opposed to total non-food sales, which had a 1% negative sales growth rate. Experiencing the most growth, organic fruits and vegetables, which represent 38% of total organic food sales, reached nearly $9.5 billion in sales in 2009, up 11% from 2008 sales. Most notable, organic fruits and vegetables now represent 11% of all U.S. fruit and vegetable sales. Since the approval of the final National Organic Program rule published in 2000, sales of organic fruits and vegetables have grown from about $3 billion, representing approximately 3% of all fruit and vegetable sales, to the nearly $9.5 billion level and 11% penetration level. Meanwhile, during that time, organic food sales have grown from $6 billion to $25 billion in 2009, jumping from 1% of all U.S. food sales to nearly 4%. The mass market channel had the lion’s share of organic food sales in 2009, with 54% sold through mainstream grocers, club stores and retailers. Natural retailers were next, with 38% of total organic food sales.