GAINESVILLE, Ga. — The Organic Trade Association has released its 2024 Organic Industry Survey. In the report it states that the sales of certified organic items surpassed a record setting $70 billion in 2023 and the marketplace sales of organic items exceeded $69.7 billion.
That is an increase of 3.4 percent, OTA notes, adding that the organic market modified their supply chain and redoubled their efforts to cover the costs of doing business from increasing costs at the grocery store. With the industry expanding, the total cost of organic foods for 2023 was $63.8 billion and the total cost of organic non-food items was $5.9 billion.
“It is encouraging to see that organic is growing at basically the same rate as the total market. 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,” Tom Chapman, co-CEO of OTA, said. “Although organic is now a maturing sector in the marketplace, we still have plenty of room to grow.”
“It is essential to educate consumers that choosing organic is a straightforward way to tackle some of the greatest challenges we face,” Matthew Dillon, co-CEO of OTA, said. “Whether it’s accessing healthy foods, improving transparency in supply chains, mitigating climate change, supporting rural economic resilience, protecting natural resources, or realizing the multitude of other benefits, effectively communicating and delivering on these promises is the key to expanding organic’s share of our dinner plate.”
In the organic market, dairy and eggs are the fourth largest group. Last year, organic dairy and egg sales increased by 5.5 percent, around $8.2 billion. The sale of organic eggs and dairy grew an estimated 8 percent over all dairy and egg products. Milk and cream sales rose by 5 percent, approximately $4.2 billion. Dairy free or plant based dairy products increased by 14 percent, about $700 million. Meat, poultry and seafood goods account for 8.5 percent of all organic sales.
The OTA survey also states, “In 2023, the increase in dollar sales in the organic market was driven more by pricing than unit sales. But that said, consumers boosted their purchases of many organic products. Increases in unit sales were reported for up to 40 percent of the products tracked in this year’s survey. The survey also showed that prices for many non-organic products climbed at a faster rate than organic products. This means the price gap between conventional and organic is closing, which should help fuel growth for organic products in 2024.”
