Natural and Organic Food and Beverage Trends

Once a reaction against large scale food processing and ever-larger supermarkets disconnected from the land, the natural/organic marketplace is now a key component of many divergent corporate interests. Investment bankers, consumer packaged goods giants and large retailers all are participating in, as well as changing the face of the marketplace for natural/organic food and beverage products.

Natural and Organic Food and Beverage Trends in the U.S.: Current and Future Patterns in Production Marketing, Retailing, and Consumer Usage, 2nd Edition begins by detailing the rise of the natural and organic producers and retailers. With this background, the report examines the market situation where a growing number of manufacturers, retailers and consumers seeking natural/organic food and beverages comprise a cultural shift, a ‘green’ mega-trend that is impacting every area of the food and beverage business.

In addition to establishing these facts, the report examines the market size for natural/organic food and beverages and through the research into retail distribution, manufacturer analysis and consumer trends, provides sales projections through 2013.

This report will serve as a scoreboard tracking the current flux in the natural/organic food and beverage marketplace as both established players and relative newcomers seek to either expand or enter the market. It looks at the various ways both conventional and natural manufacturers and retailers are gaining share as well as how the established natural/organic leaders are shaping the way for their conventional followers.

The current market leaves no doubt that these efforts will continue and sales will grow. However, as failures indicate, the road isn’t necessarily an easy one. From the March 2007 sale of the always struggling Wild Oats Market, to the September 2007 closing of Supervalu’s natural format Sunflower Markets, along with numerous losing ‘me-too’ efforts from manufacturers such as Nabisco, Ragu and Kellogg’s, lots of money has been lost in seeking to capture natural/organic consumers’ loyalties.

The varying degrees of success and failure indicate that current efforts from all players, whether the large CPGs, natural industry leaders, small owner-operated shopkeepers and even the world’s largest mass merchants, are far from static.

One lesson to be learned, that is both obvious and elusive, is that innovation and integrity are both critical to this market. This report shows how successful companies have created a mirror representing the values and demands of natural/organic consumers.

Report Methodology

The information presented in this report was obtained from primary and secondary research. Primary research included interviews with industry participants as well as on-site store examinations and reviews of websites, blogs and readers’ comments posted on these sites. Secondary research and data gathering included extensive examination of the trade, business and popular press, websites as well as company annual reports and various trade association publications.

Packaged Facts market size estimates are based on Information Resources, Inc. (IRI)

InfoScan Review and on SPINS data. New product introduction figures are published with permission of Datamonitor’s Productscan online service.

The analysis of consumer behavior and demographic data is based on two source: Simmons Market Research Bureau and BIGresearch.