Demand for organic food and other products has remained strong and is expected to increase, due in part to its increased availability, according to a report by Nielsen.
Sales of organic products of all types exceeded $21 billion and are up nearly 9% in dollars and 8% in units compared to a year ago, the report says. This especially stands out since fast-moving consumer goods as a whole increased only 0.2% in per-household spending.
Millennials and Hispanics are the two demographics with the sharpest increase in spending on organic products since last year, at 14% and 13% respectively.
The biggest single product category in terms of organic sales is cow’s milk, at about $1.4 billion. The Nielsen report noted, however, that sales of organic cow’s milk fell 2.3% in the past year, which it attributes mostly to a price premium that exceeds 80%.
After milk, the biggest-selling organic products were packaged salads, eggs and health/nutrition bars. The categories with the highest growth in the past year were kombucha, sandwich bread and fresh chicken.
