Organic Sales Neared $70 Billion Last Year
Dollar sales for the U.S. organic marketplace hit $69.7 billion last year, up 3.4 percent, according to the 2024 Organic Industry Survey released Tuesday by the Organic Trade Association.
Despite price inflation at retail, consumers indicated their priorities through the products they chose, valuing health and sustainability, and seeking out the USDA Organic label, said the OTA. The organic marketplace recalibrated its supply chain and reconciled the cost of doing business in part with increased retail pricing. The industry continued to grow, with organic food sales in 2023 totaling $63.8 billion and sales of organic non-food products totaling $5.9 billion, found the report.
“It is encouraging to see that organic is growing at basically the same rate as the total market,” said Tom Chapman, co-CEO of OTA, in a statement. “In the face of inflation and considering organic is already seen as a premium category, the current growth shows that consumers continue to choose organic amidst economic challenges and price increases. Although organic is now a maturing sector in the marketplace, we still have plenty of room to grow.”
Produce held its spot as the largest organic category in 2023, continuing to be the entry point for consumers into the organic market. Last year, the category grew by 2.6 percent to $20.5 billion. Organic produce now accounts for more than 15 percent of total U.S. fruit and vegetable sales, according to the report.
Top sellers in the organic produce section were avocadoes, berries, apples, carrots, and packaged salads. Organic bananas also saw stronger growth in 2023 than their non-organic counterpart.
The second biggest-selling food category in the organic aisles was the grocery category with sales of $15.4 billion for a 4.1 percent growth. With 21 different subcategories, close to 40 percent of the sales in the grocery category were driven by the top three performers—in-store bakery and fresh breads with sales of $3.1 billion for a gain of almost 3 percent, dry breakfast goods up around 8 percent to $1.8 billion in sales, and baby food and formula at $1.5 billion for a gain of nearly 11 percent. according to the report.
Beverages were the third largest category for organic in 2023, posting $9.4 billion in sales, up 3.9 percent. This category was a driver of innovation with functional beverages as well as non-alcoholic beverages and mocktails, said the OTA. On the alcohol side, the report found that organic wine sales were up 2.5 percent to $377 million, and organic liquor and cocktails, while still the smallest sector of beverages at $59 million, posted over 13 percent growth.