Consumers chase organic claims across all categories

Some of the motivating factors to purchase organic foods include environmental concern, health concern, product quality and subjective norms. These motivational factors are heavily driven by political citizenship in food choices.

Understand the existing market drivers and find valuable inspiration about how to get a share of a marketplace still dominated by premium price levels.

Organic food sales surpassed the USD 100 billion mark for the first time in 2018. Starting from almost nothing in the 1990s, the global organic food market is now worth USD 105.5 billion (1).

Consumer attitude towards purchasing organic food products are strongly influenced by four variables namely environmental concern, health concern and lifestyle, product quality and subjective norms. Source: Consumers Attitude Towards Organic Food, Mohamed Bilal Bashaa et al. (2016)

Organic is becoming an increasingly desirable attribute for new product development (NPD) as well as for fresh produce across the globe – most prominently however in North America and Europe (1). Although demand for organic products is rising on a global scale, the market for organic food and beverages remains relatively small in many regions of the world.

Total market value in USD. Note that North America comprises almost half of the global revenues and Europe comprises 42% of the global revenues. Source: The World of Organic Agriculture (Frick & Bonn, 2020).

According to The World of Organic Agriculture (Frick & Bonn, 2020) organic agriculture is practiced in 186 countries, and 71.5 million hectares of agricultural land are managed organically by approximately 2.8 million farmers.

Numbers from Innova Market Insights show that New Product Launches (NPL) with an organic claim is growing considerably in China, India and Japan.

Top 10 countries with most NPLs with an organic claim in 2019. The chart shows considerable numbers in China, India and Japan. Source: Innova Market Insights (2020).

In fact, 10% of all NPLs across all categories and across all countries have an organic claim.

Top 10 categories with most NPLs with an organic claim in 2019. The chart shows categories on a global scale. Organic beer is growing in popularity in many places across the world and is the main reason why Alchoholic beverages come in 8 on the Top 10 list. Source: Innova Market Insights (2020).

Willingness to pay price premiums remains

Today, more than ever, consumers are willing to pay more for organic food and beverage products with a clean label and a sustainable profile. In addition to concerns over health and environment, growth in disposable incomes has a pronounced positive effect on organic sales. Political buyers are typically very knowledgeable, and they rarely compromise on their beliefs and convictions when it comes to environmental and health-related aspects.

Studies show that prices for organic products continue to be higher than for their conventional counterparts. The explanation is that the well-informed consumers continue to show a willingness to pay the price premiums established in the marketplace. Positioning your food or beverage product with an organic claim remains a lucrative opportunity.

Younger generations are more loyal to their beliefs

Organic products have shifted from being a lifestyle choice for a small share of consumers to being consumed at least occasionally by a majority of – especially – Americans and Europeans.

This development is to a large extend driven by younger generations. According to Packaged Facts’ 2020 Report involving 23,600 US respondents, consumers under the age of 40 tend to be frequent purchasers of organic and natural foods. In the category of organic meat, core consumers tend to be younger adults with children and relatively high incomes. However, despite having relatively lower incomes, Gen Z and Y show slightly more frequent purchasing of e.g. organic meats.

Organic stocks and broths – your access to price premiums

Fighting for the attention of consumers in a competitive market can be fierce. And boosting the attractiveness of your food products will be necessary to maintain and gain a competitive edge.

Essentia Protein Solutions can supply you with a trending range of clean label ingredients made from organic beef of Swedish origin. Organic ranges cover our beef bone broth powder OmniBroth^TM BBB Organic and a number of tasty stocks (ProBase^TM) cooked on selected meaty bones and ideal when used as a natural and robust base in soups, sauces and ready meals.

All Essentia ingredients are clean label, non-GMO and low fat. They contain no known allergens, no additives and are free from sugar, grain and lactose. In Essentia we want to help support a transparent ingredient list and a clean label.

Read more here or contact your local sales representative.

References:

1. The World of Organic Agriculture, Frick & Bonn (2020)