Anne Howe

Market Baskets See Organic Sales Growth

August 17, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
While much of the reporting in recent years has shown consumers trading down in grocery stores, a new survey shows demand for higher-priced natural and/or organic products on the upswing. What is your takeaway from the big increase in the numbers of consumers who report that natural and/or organics make up at least 25 percent of their food purchases?      [more...]

I think the specialty stores stand to gain more of the organic food market basket than mainstream grocers, and the reason may surprise you. I believe it's the shopping environment and experience that inspire a larger basket.

When in a mainstream grocery store last week, I sought out Michigan organic potatoes. I found them, but was so unimpressed with the way they were merchandised, that I ultimately elected not to buy them. The next day, I headed to a specialty market across the street, where sections of fresh Michigan grown organic foods were vibrantly displayed with attractive signage.

I was visually stimulated, emotionally motivated and happily shopped my way around those displays, buying much more than I actually had planned. Experience and environment matter because they invoke triggers. Mainstream grocers don't seem to play to those triggers as often as they should.