Why is COVID-19 Boosting Organic Food Sales?
Double-digit growth in organic fresh produce sales was registered in the last quarter. What role has the pandemic played in this sudden sales boost?
According to data released by the Organic Produce Network, the sales of organic fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) have soared in Q2: +18.2% in volume compared to Q2 2019, surpassing the growth in conventional produce (+12.9%). Below are the two factors we at FarmWise believe are contributing to the rise in organic food sales based on discussion with vegetable growers on the fields.
Across various media outlets or channels, authorities, as well as national and international organizations have massively shared two kinds of public statements: 1) The risk of hospitalization is higher for people with diet-related conditions like obesity, hypertension and Type 2 diabetes — 2) Staying healthy and sane is the best thing one can do to keep both their immune system and mood in good shape. Below are a few recent related articles:
- “How Poor Diet Contributes to Coronavirus Risk” — NYT, April 20, 2020,
- “Eating a healthy diet is very important during the COVID-19 pandemic.” — WHO
- “Eating during COVID-19: Improve your mood and lower stress” — Harvard Medical School
- “Making Health and Nutrition a Priority During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic” — American Society of Nutrition, March 18, 2020
In light of these good-eating injunctions, an obvious explanation with the soar in organic fresh produce sales can be found in consumers’ perception of “organic food”. In our mind, most of us associate organic food, in particular, fresh produce, with today’s top-of-mind concept: “health”. The proven health benefits of eating organic food are more relevant than ever in a world where our “health” is at the epicenter of most of our news and discussions. This trend has been very well-identified as the following quote shows:
“ Our 2020 survey looks at organic sales in 2019 before the coronavirus outbreak, and it shows that consumers were increasingly seeking out the Organic label to feed their families the healthiest food possible. The pandemic has only increased our desire for clean, healthy food,” — Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the Organic Trade Association.
This factor is likely to remain “sticky” and positively affect the demand for organic food probably for the years to come which is good news for growers who invested and continue to invest in turning conventional acres into organic ones. It’s also good news for our health.
A second factor to take into account is that most organic food sales ( precisely 93% according to USDA and the Organic Trade Association) happen through conventional and natural food supermarkets. The last 7% take place through farmers’ markets and foodservice. In other words, restaurants aren’t responsible for a large portion of organic food purchases. If you’re not convinced yet, try to remember when was the last time you asked for a meal prepared exclusively with organic ingredients at your favorite restaurant?
This significant difference turns into an additional boost for organic food sales as consumers have been grocery shopping much more than usual over the past 6 months due to shelter-in-place orders and temporarily reduced activity of restaurants. In a nutshell, 1) we have been grocery shopping more than normal and eating out less than usual, and 2) While grocery shopping, we typically tend to focus more on purchasing organic foods compared to how we choose our entree while eating at a restaurant
This second trend is most likely going to be short-lived as people start to go back to restaurants and order more take-out over the next few months or the next year.
How these two factors relatively impact the overall trend in organic food purchase growth is a difficult guess. However, it is our opinion that the recent re-focus of people on their own health is going to have a lasting effect on consumption behaviors. We, therefore, expect to see a permanent acceleration of organic food sales (which has already been growing rapidly before the virus at around 8% per year over the past decade). The virus is reminding us not only that our health is at the center of our lives but also that the food we eat is at the center of our health, or as Hippocrates put it, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.
Originally published at https://medium.com on August 18, 2020.
