Good Enough To Eat

Simplifying the message may be the key to cultivating organic produce shoppers.

It's the fastest-growing sector in agriculture, and with consumers reading labels more closely than ever before; the growth in organics is expected to continue.

Sales of organic products have increased annually by as much as 20 percent and represent a $31 billion sector of the agricultural industry, according to the Santa Cruz-based California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). Fruit and vegetable sales, which represent 39.7 percent of the total U.S. organic food value, have experienced the most growth, reaching almost $10.6 billion in 2010, up 11.8 percent from the previous year, notes the Brattleboro, Vt.-based Organic Trade Association (OTA). Organic produce now represents about 12 percent of all U.S. fruit and vegetable sales.

While the news about organic produce is good right now, in the near future, simply labeling organic products as such may not be enough.

With everyone from Walgreens to Big Lots to 7-Eleven now among the purveyors of organic food, competition for market share is fiercer than ever. Add to this a consumer who wants an emotional connection to his or her food supply, and you might find good reason to tweak or even revamp your organic produce merchandising strategy.

The demand for organic produce is now part of a more comprehensive trend in ethical retailing.

One of the trending topics discussed at the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Connections: Retail event held in Sonoma, Calif., in June, was that ethical supermarkets treat their employees fairly, care about green store design and stock products that their customers can believe in.

"Consumers do care where their food comes from," PMA EVP and COO Lorna Christie said during the event, citing research that shows 59 percent of consumers want a connection with the farmer, 79 percent of consumers want environmentally friendly foods, and 75 percent want a reduction in pesticide use.

Organic Shopper Insights

To gain a better understanding of what shoppers of organic produce want,PG spoke with Carrie Vitt, popular blogger and author of the cookbook "Deliciously Organic: Simple Dishes, Vibrant Flavors Everyone Will Love."

Vitt is not only well versed in organic food, she also shops for it exclusively. Ten years ago, the mother of two and wife of an Air Force pilot was experiencing as many as four migraine headaches a week. When numerous visits to the neurologist and various medications did nothing to quell the pain, she decided to switch to an all-organic diet for herself and her family.

"As soon as I switched to an organic diet, the improvement was immediate, and within a couple of months, my migraines went away completely," she recalls. "For me, buying organic is about health, and I've got little kids and there are things that I don't want to expose them to."

So what drives Vitt's choice of store when she shops for organics?

Keeping it together: "I like it when the organic tomatoes are next to the conventional tomatoes. I don't like what I call 'the organic corner,'" says Vitt, who at one point lived near two markets, one that had a designated organic produce area and one that integrated it. She always shopped the latter.

She prefers the sensory experience of shopping the whole store and making choices about organic products. "When all of the organic produce is in a corner, I feel like the selection is limited," Vitt says, adding that it also makes her feel like she's an outcast rather than a part of the store community.

100 percent organic recipes: Having written a cookbook on organic food preparation, Vitt isn't at loss for produce-based recipes. However, she has found that many Americans are: "They just don't know how to prepare them. We live in a society where many people open a box and add water. I know because I was in the same boat until 10 years ago."

To help consumers out, make the recipe cards available in the produce aisle and feature simple recipes, Vitt advises. Her favorites are roasted and blanched vegetables, which are easy to prepare and highly flavorful. "The one thing I don't like to see on recipe cards is when they call for organic carrots, but then they say to cook them with a can of 'our whatever' that isn't organic. I feel like they're trying to push that product on me."

Taste trumps nutrition: "I think we've gone a little too far with the nutritional value of food, where we begin to think of eating an apple for specific nutrients rather than just because it tastes good and it's good for me," Vitt asserts. She believes in celebrating the pleasure of eating good food—something that's perhaps even more important when the food is also good for you.

"We need to take a step back and eat real food without focusing solely on what it's doing for our body," she says. "Because that message is too confusing and frustrating for most people, who just want to eat something that tastes good."

Top Sellers in Organic Produce

According to the Brattleboro, Vt.-based Ogranic Trade Association (OTA), when it comes to organic food, conventional retailers outsell specialty natural food stores. In 2010, 54 percent of organic food sales were rung up in conventional markets, while natural retailers accounted for 39 percent of total organic food sales.

With regard to produce, the market researchers at Chicago-based Mintel analyzed organic fruit and vegetable sales in the supermarket channel with the help of Nielsen Perishables Group FreshFacts. Together, they found that carrots are the leading vegetable, accounting for 17.1 percent of organic vegetables sold for the 52 weeks ending Oct. 31, 2011, followed by packaged salads, at 15.8 percent.

As for fruit, apples and berries are the most sought-after organics, each with a 7.1 percent share of organic fruit sales.

"We need to take a step back and eat real food without focusing solely on what it's doing for our body."

—Carrie Vitt, Blogger/Author

Rainier Revamps Packaging

Selah, Wash.-based Rainier Fruit Co. is redesigning all of its organic packaging to make it more easily identifiable at retail. "One of the biggest challenges is consumer confusion as a result of misleading information, lack of understanding and unclear signage. We hope to tackle the last one with the new labeling design," says Suzanne Wolter, Rainier director of marketing. Rainier launched the new design on its blueberry clam-shell in June; its apples will feature the new organic labels this fall.

The Future of CCOF Tilth Inc.

In May, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), based in Santa Cruz, and Corvallis, Ore.-based Oregon Tilth, two of the nation's leaders in the organic movement and in certification, revealed plans to merge.

What will the merger, slated for completion by Nov. 1, mean for the industry?

"We believe the merger will create the strongest mission-driven certification program in the country," says CCOF Executive Director Cathy Calfo, noting the collaboration will also allow the organization to cut costs while delivering better services, such as providing electronic versions of certification records. "Paperwork and certification costs have always been top concerns among our members."

The second major benefit, Calfo says, is "having a truly national membership." Combined, the organization will have some 4,200 certified farmers, ranchers, processors and retailers.

"The creation of a continuously funded, charitable foundation for research and education" is the third outcome that Calfo sees for the newly merged CCOF Tilth.

Retailer members of CCOF Tilth will also benefit from having access to certification records online, Calfo says, as well as access to staffers that are specifically assigned to handle their needs.