About 12% of all produce sold in the U.S. is organic, according to a new study — almost double the amount found in another study.
SPINS, a market research firm for the organic and natural foods industry, arrived at the 12% figure through analysis of IRI Shopper Network bar code data from 100,000 U.S. households, according to a news release from the Washington, D.C.-based Organic Trade Association.
The SPINS figure is significantly higher than FreshLook Marketing retail scan data, which found that organic accounts for 6.9% of total produce sales.
Dick Spezzano, president of Monrovia, CA.-based Spezzano Consulting, said he’s never heard a number as high as 12%.
At some of the specialty retailers Spezzano works with, up to 15% of their produce is organic, but at more conventional retailers the numbers are lower.
“Safeway’s goal is 10% — some of their stores are 8%, some 12%. Kroger is about 8% or 9%, and I’m guessing Wal-Mart is lower than that.”
But double-digit annual growth in organic produce sales is real, Spezzano said, and within about two years, the 12% share could be reality. Growers are getting better at growing organic, he said, and as a result, the price gap between organic and conventional is shrinking.
Earl Herrick, owner and president of Earl’s Organic Produce, San Francisco, can only guess at organic’s share of total produce sales, but he does know business is booming.
“Eight percent, 10%, 12% — what do I know? But we definitely agree that the market is vital, strong and continues to grow.”
Earl’s has enjoyed 15% annual growth in recent years, Herrick said.
New SPINS data also claims that all categories of organic food accounted for nearly 5% of total U.S. food sales.
Organic produce sales account for more than 36% of all organic food sales, according to SPINS. Organics’ share of all produce sales has more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to SPINS.
Organic food sales totaled $35.9 billion in 2014, 11% more than the year before, according to a new Organic Trade Association survey conducted by Nutrition Business Journal.
Between 68% and 80% of households in U.S. southern states and almost 90% of households on the West Coast and in New England purchased organic in 2014, according to the survey.
More than 200 companies responded to the survey, according to the association.