Dive Brief:
- Marketing messages for organic products have shifted over the years as the category continues to post strong growth, especially relative to growth of the food industry overall.
- That messaging is less about discrediting nonorganic products, and more about promoting the produce category overall and positioning all produce as part of a healthy diet.
- Messages are also shifting to a focus on "real" over processed foods and a more plant-based diet.
Dive Insight:
While this messaging shift may benefit organic producers as a whole, it especially helps major manufacturers by getting them to stop positioning their organic products in a way that could discredit the nonorganic products in their own portfolio.
Instead, manufacturers can promote the health benefits of produce overall and of "real" food, a tactic which Campbell recently announced as part of its own growth strategy. Focusing on the positive nature of produce promotes all of a manufacturers' products that use fruits and vegetables rather than only those that are organic, and these messages don't cause confusion or concern about the manufacturer's own nonorganic products.
The wave of new organic products is in response to surging demand for organic produce and packaged foods and beverages made with organic ingredients. Sales of U.S. organic foods in the U.S. hit a record high of $39.7 billion in 2015, an 11% increase year over year, according to the Organic Trade Association's (OTA) 2016 Organic Industry Survey. More than half of U.S. households purchase organic produce, according to a recent OTA report. Organic foods now comprise about 5% of the total food supply, according to the OTA.