Over 80 percent of U.S. homes contain organic foods, according to a new Nielsen study.
A study of 100,000 households in 2015 and 2016 reported more households than ever bought organic food in 2016, which surpassed 2015 numbers by 3.4 percent.
“These new findings show how important organic has become to millions and millions of American families everywhere – to more than 80% of our nation’s 117 million households,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and executive director of the Organic Trade Association. in a news release. “The organic community is looking forward to working with the new leadership at (the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
Alaska and Hawaii were excluded from the study. However, the findings found in some states, households with organic produce and other foods topped 90 percent.
The five states which saw the biggest increases in households reporting organic purchases were:
- North Dakota, where 85.6 percent
- Rhode Island, with 88.3 percent
- Percent buying organic, up 12.3 percent from 2015;
- Wyoming, where 90 percent of participating households bought organic in 2016, up 10.8 percent;
- South Dakota, which had the lowest percentage of any state at 68.9 percent, but still recorded a 10 percent increase;
- Wisconsin, where 77.6 percent of participating households bought organic, up 9.1 percent from 2015.
Organic food sales in the U.S. is close to $40 billion a year, accounting for 5 percent of total food sales in the country, according to the Organic Trade Association.
Households that participated in the study scanned Universal Product Codes to track purchases, a practice Nielsen has used since 2002.
NFI Expanding U.S. Produce Business
NFI Industries of Cherry Hill, NJ is bringing fresh produce capabilities to the U.S.
Active in numerous industries, the logistics company made more than 185,000 shipments in 2016, including 10,000 shipments of produce.
The move to expand further into produce was prompted by interest from existing customers and the hiring of more staff members with experience in produce.
NFI has been hauling produce to Canada with a dedicated fleet for several large customers there, and those companies also have business in the U.S.,
Main shipping points for NFI’s U.S. produce business will be Northern California, Yuma, Ariz., Nogales, Ariz., McAllen, Texas, Florida and regional ports.
NFI operates more than 31 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space throughout the U.S., particularly in the eastern half of the country and in Texas, and owns more than 2,400 tractors and more than 8,300 trailers, according to the company website.