{"id":25510,"date":"2019-06-03T12:47:50","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T16:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=25510"},"modified":"2020-07-31T15:40:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T19:40:34","slug":"the-movement-towards-natural-organic-food-and-healthy-lifestyles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/the-movement-towards-natural-organic-food-and-healthy-lifestyles\/","title":{"rendered":"The Movement Towards Natural & Organic Food and Healthy Lifestyles"},"content":{"rendered":"
>> Back to June 2019<\/a><\/div>\n

Sales of Natural and Organic Products Outpace Conventional Food and Beverage as Consumers Get the Message About the Relationship Between Diet and Health<\/h3>\n

\"\"Launching natural products and organic companies, as well as investing in them, is a challenge in today\u2019s competitive retail and consumer products marketplace. Yet, consumer demand for healthier products continues to grow. With concerns ranging from the cost of healthcare to the effects of food and agriculture on climate change, consumers of all ages are opting for natural, organic and functional foods and beverages, nutritional supplements, natural medicines and other eco-friendly products from mission-based companies that share their values and address their concerns.<\/p>\n

And, with conventionally grown apples<\/a> at the top of the Environmental Working Group\u2019s infamous \u201cDirty Dozen\u201d contaminated fruits and vegetables list (Each conventional apple contains on average 4.4 toxic, synthetic pesticide residues.), people are realizing that it\u2019s the organic apple a day that keeps the doctor away<\/em>. By choosing organic, regenerative and other healthful and eco-friendly products, people are investing directly in their family\u2019s health, the health of the planet, and the health of family farms and local communities. And it\u2019s translating into sustained business growth in the natural and organic products sector.<\/p>\n

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In 2018, sales of natural and organic products increased 6.9 percent to $219 billion, according industry market research leader New Hope Network<\/a>, while sales of conventional food and beverage products, totaling $634 billion, declined by -0.2 percent. \u201cIt\u2019s not news that sales of natural, organic and functional foods and beverages are growing at a far faster pace than conventional food and beverage,\u201d<\/em> said Carlotta Mast, New Hope\u2019s Senior VP of Content and Insights, in an industry trends seminar<\/a> presented at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA, in March 2019. (Attracting nearly 90,000 visitors from over 70 countries, Expo West<\/a> is the world\u2019s largest natural and organic products trade show.) \u201cThe natural and organic products industry is on track to surpass $250 billion in sales by 2021,\u201d<\/em> Mast added.<\/p>\n

In a real sense, Mast noted, conventionally produced, highly processed food and beverage products with artificial flavors, colors and other ingredients are experiencing negative growth. All the growth today in the food and beverage sector is in natural, organic, nutritional, non-GMO and other clean label products. From a small health food and crunchy, hippy movement of independent natural foods stores and co-ops in the 1950s, \u201860s and \u201870s, natural and organic is now leading the way in food and beverage retail and manufacturing innovation \u2013 marking a huge shift in the market and in the consumer mindset.<\/p>\n

Online vs Brick & Mortar<\/h2>\n

While manufacturers are compelled in today\u2019s market to pursue what\u2019s referred to as \u201comnichannel<\/a>\u201d sales strategies, natural and organic continues to be a \u201cbrick and mortar\u201d industry, with 86 percent of total sales being rung up in either mass market or natural foods stores. Conventional grocery retailers including Kroger, Walmart, Costco and others are taking a larger chunk of the market. According to New Hope data, 60 percent of total natural and organic product sales are happening in the mass market and mainstream conventional grocery channel, which grew 7.4 percent to $130 billion in 2018. However, more midsize natural food retail chains such as Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ: SFM), Natural Grocers (NYSE: NGVC) and others, which are dedicated to selling predominately natural and organic products, continue to perform well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe natural channel, which helped create this industry and continues to be vitally important, grew at a slower rate of 3.3 percent to reach about $58 billion in sales in 2018. Although natural is now smaller than the mass market channel, it is still strategically important, particularly for new brands,\u201d<\/em> Mast said.<\/p>\n

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