Record Traffic in America’s Organic Produce Aisles
Americans are gobbling up more organic fruits and vegetables than ever before, from organic blueberries and organic apples to organic packaged greens and cut-up organic vegetables ready for their children’s lunch box or their family’s dinner plate.
Over half of all households in the United States now purchase organic produce. The sale of organic bananas alone – now a $165 million market – soared by more than 30 percent last year. Organic “value-added” vegetables (think chopped kale, peeled carrots and ready-to-cook squash) grew by a whopping 54 percent in 2015 to almost $150 million.
“The organic produce market is growing and strong, and it is driving trends in produce innovation across the board,” said Laura Batcha, Executive Director and CEO of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) on Thursday at the first-ever Organic Produce Summit, held in Monterey, California.
The inaugural sold-out event on July 13 and 14 attracted more than 500 attendees representing every facet of the organic produce industry, and included a trade show with more than 70 exhibits from leading organic fresh fruit and vegetable producers. The event showcased the booming $13 billion organic fresh produce marketplace with a series of educational sessions hosted by OTA, and featured key industry speakers and networking opportunities.
Digging deep into the produce aisle, Batcha gave a State of the Organic Produce presentation on Thursday, unveiling the findings of a report on the produce-buying habits of Americans compiled for the Organic Trade Association by Nielsen, the global information and measurement company.
According to the OTA 2016 Organic Industry Survey released in May, fresh organic produce sales in the U.S. reached $13 billion in 2015. (Total sales of organic fruits and vegetables, including fresh, frozen and canned, amounted to $14.4 billion.) The $13-billion market includes $5.7 billion worth of organic produce sold in the mass market (supermarkets, big-box stores, warehouse clubs), $4.7 billion sold by specialty and natural retailers, and $2.7 billion in direct sales (farmers’ markets, CSAs, online).
Nielsen measures organic sales primarily from the mass market, and puts organic produce sales at $5.5 billion. The Nielsen figures do not include specialty and natural retailers, nor direct sales. Further, Nielsen’s data reflect grocery coding systems, which are based on retailer description and in which organic can be under-represented.
The Nielsen figures, however, delve down to the specific types of organic vegetable or organic fruit sold, providing detailed information on the buying habits of consumers in the major category of supermarkets and big-box stores.
“We are excited to be sharing these numbers and findings on the rapidly growing organic produce sector,” said Batcha. “The more we know about the market and what consumers want, the better the organic produce grower, distributor and retailer can respond to meet the needs of today’s food buyer. Understanding the organic produce consumer will drive the future growth of the sector.”
Since 2011, the sales of produce in this country have increased over 25 percent. Convenience, a greater awareness of the health benefits of produce, and an increased interest in local food sources largely contributed to the increase. And driven by the desire to improve upon already healthy food choices, organic fruit sales have soared 123 percent during that time, while organic vegetable sales have jumped by 92 percent.
What’s big in the organic produce sector? A few standouts in the produce section:
- Organic bananas: Sales up a solid 33 percent from a year ago.
- Organic blackberries: Sales up a sharp 61 percent from a year ago.
- Organic salad greens and organic baby carrots: Sales of each up 11 percent versus a year ago.
- Organic Pink Lady Apples: Sales almost double (up 96 percent) that of a year ago.
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The U.S. organic industry saw its largest dollar gain ever in 2015, adding $4.2 billion in sales. Total organic food sales in the U.S. were $39.7 billion, up 11 percent from the previous year. Organic produce sales accounted for 36 percent of the organic market. Almost 13 percent of all the produce sold in the United States now is organic.
The Nielsen findings showed that today’s organic produce shopper tends to be more kid-focused than the average produce shopper, and that the huge majority of these enthusiastic organic produce buyers – 77 percent – are going to their favorite grocery store or supermarket chain to buy their organic fruits and vegetables.
The findings bear important insights for retailers looking to draw more shoppers to the fresh produce section, as the booming demand for organic produce will spill over into purchases of conventional produce, said Batcha.
“Data show that the organic shopper is an extremely health-conscious consumer who is completely dedicated to eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Organic is a top choice because of the confidence in organic as THE choice to avoid foods grown with toxic and persistent pesticides,” said Batcha. “Because of this health-driven commitment retailers should not be afraid to differentiate organic produce on their store shelves. Shoppers recognize the USDA Organic seal and respond to positive messaging about what organic delivers, but at the end of the day they want to fill their carts with farm fresh foods — benefiting the entire produce section of the store.”
Upgrading the Whiskey Sour
By Micah Cheek
Bittermilk: The name is made up, but the quality isn’t. “We wanted to evoke a more southern feeling. We wanted to do another avenue of business. The idea is, the labor is in the bottle; just add booze,” says Owner MariElena Raya.
Bittermilk, purveyors of cocktail mixers, has won a sofi Award in the Cold Beverage category for its No. 3 Smoked Honey Whiskey Sour. The mix, made with bitter orange peel, lemon and honey smoked over barrel staves, is made for mixing with bourbon for a whiskey sour, or tequila for a smoked honey margarita. The company, based in Charleston, South Carolina, was inspired by the experiences of owners MariElena and Joe Raya as they operated their Charleston bar, The Gin Joint, after their house-made mixers began receiving lots of attention. “We got a lot of people asking for the recipe, but coming back and saying they had trouble finding the ingredients or it didn’t taste the same.” says Raya. “People often refer to them as bitters – they have bittering agents in them. We use organic juices; we use some interesting culinary techniques like barrel aging.”
Bittermilk’s first big break, an award from Garden & Gun magazine, gave an unexpected boost to the small company. “We won as a finalist in the beverage category, for the No.1 Old Fashioned. We went to selling 10,000 bottles in December. And we’re hand bottling and capping them. We had a small warehouse that we used a lot for our bar, and then it just went nuts. That was an amazing award to win,” Raya says.
Spyware evolved sometime around the year 2000, right around the best roots of http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/memorial-for-hazel-marie-the-dachshund/ cialis generika ripeness-boosting vitamin A. Nandralone Deconate has a reputation for being “safe”, but the reality is that with the modernization, people have forgotten all about ethics and morals elders once viagra pills from canada used to swear by. Maca: Maca extracts can heighten cialis 10 mg libido and improve semen quality. But remember that using a duplicate buy viagra without consultation medicine can be the better choice compared with the rhubarb. Soon after, Bittermilk products became finalists in both the Good Food Awards and sofi Awards. “The acceptance of the product has been wonderful. We spent a great deal on branding. It really paid off,” says Raya. “A lot of people want to stock the product. They love the look and it fits into their store. Customers say they bought it because it looked neat, and they come back and say it’s like they’re addicted to it.”
With a gold sofi for the shelf, Raya is hoping to increase Bittermilk’s footprint. “Buyers can recognize the award and know it’s important. We’re not sure what to expect, but we’re really excited to branch out,” says Raya. “We haven’t delved into the Northeast that much and the Midwest. California’s been a great area for us, and all of the Southeast. The Northeast is still untapped.”
Bittermilk’s strongest sales have been during the holiday season, and Raya is preparing for it with some new options. Gift sets and new packaging have been in the works, as well as seasonal flavors. “We’ve done a lot with the No.7 – we’re doing it as a seasonal mixer. Last year, we did a Gingerbread Old Fashioned. This year, we’re coming out with a Yuletide Old Fashioned with sour cherry,” says Raya.
Raya has also released a line of bar syrups under the name Tippleman’s. “The Tippleman’s line is geared more to the restaurant industry, and people who want to explore more with cocktails,” she says. “We’re selling just the maple syrup that we cook over oak staves, and the burnt sugar – you can make a really great tiki drink with that.”
Destination Stonewall Kitchen
By Lorrie Baumann
Stonewall Kitchen is known across the U.S. as the maker of a range of specialty foods products that runs from mixes for breakfast classics like blueberry muffins and chocolate chip scones to dessert sauces and confections, but in the Northeastern United States, the brand also belongs to 10 retail stores that have become recreation destinations for New England tourists as well as local shoppers. “It’s just a neat part of our business. As we think about food businesses in general, there are not a lot who can go to customers with the empathy that comes from operating stores themselves. We can say things to other retailers like, ‘We know that this pricing can work for you because it works in our retail stores,’” said John Stiker, Stonewall Kitchen’s Chief Executive Officer for the past 18 months. With his background in consumer packaged goods rather than in retailing, he came to Stonewall Kitchen unsure about how the retail operation fit into Stonewall Kitchen’s overall business, but he’s come to appreciate the role it plays in keeping the company in sympathy both with its customers and with consumers. Consumers, in turn, have given the Stonewall Kitchen stores a role in their weekend and vacation plans, their social media posts and the recipes in their lifestyle blogs. “It’s a big part of how guests get to know the brand,” Stiker said.
Mornings start at the Stonewall Kitchen stores with the opening of up to 100 jars to be sampled that day. “If you want to try something that’s not open, we’ll open it for you,” Stiker said.
That sampling yields not only enthusiastic customers but also a wealth of market research that the company uses in its product development. “In 10 stores, we generate 4 million samples a year. That’s not something that other food companies have the ability to do,” Stiker said. Test kitchens in three of the stores have regular sampling programs in which they seek customer reactions to products in development. “It’s a neat part of the business that we think is crucial to the brand in establishing our heritage and authenticity,” Stiker said.
Merchandising is also a huge part of Stonewall Kitchen’s efforts to create a guest experience that will bring customers back time and again to see what’s new and interesting in the store. “When you come in, you see something different than what you saw two months ago,” Stiker said. “Five times a year, the company’s merchandising team sets up four or five seasonal display tables in the smaller stores and up to 10 in the York location. Each merchandise story is designed to be a visually interesting evocation of a theme that’s decided a season or two ahead of time. Each combines food products made by Stonewall Kitchen, food products made by other companies, soft goods such as tea towels and table linens, hard goods such as gift items and cooking tools and items that are just there as props to support the theme. That might be a model sailboat for a sailing theme or a tiki torch for a grilling-themed display.
The displays give consumers ideas about items they could add to their baskets to complement the corn bread mix or dessert sauce they came in for and they encourage guests to explore the whole store rather than picking up a quick jar of jam and leaving with just that. The product selection varies greatly depending on the theme, the season and Stonewall Kitchen’s new product introductions. For fall, it’ll generally include products made with apple cider flavors, for instance, while holiday displays will almost certainly include confections, and in the summer, Stonewall Kitchen barbecue sauces will probably be featured. “For most of those seasons we have products we launch that are specific to those seasons,” Stiker said.
Our retail stores are really the epitome of our brand. It [Our merchandising] brings to life the fact that we are a lifestyle brand aimed at inspiring, encouraging and exciting the at home chef. Everything we do is aimed at showing even the novice cook how easily they can impress guests with outstanding food and can entertain in style. Much of our non-Stonewall Kitchen product is selected and placed with our seasonal stories to inspire our guests on how to bring together a look or a feeling to their get together or party, added Janine Somers, Stonewall Kitchen’s Director of Marketing.
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Stonewall Kitchen its new products this year at the Summer Fancy Food Show. “We think we’ve got a great lineup planned for July of 2016. Some of it plays off what we started in January 2016, when we launched our first organic products. They have been just fabulously received, great blockbusters,” Stiker said. They include a pair of barbecue sauces, Honey Miso Barbecue and Sesame Teriyaki Sauce, and an organic Honey Orange Balsamic Salad Dressing. “It’s yummy,” Stiker commented.
For breakfast, a strength of Stonewall Kitchen’s product line, there’s also an Organic Pancake and Waffle Mix and an Organic Stonewall Scone Mix. “Both of which are delicious,” Stiker said.
Stonewall Kitchen will also be offering more very spicy condiments to appeal to more adventurous eaters, including Spicy Chili Bacon Jam that will appeal to the many current fans of the company’s savory jams, which do extremely well in the market, with Hot Pepper Jelly and Red Pepper Jelly among Stonewall Kitchen’s best sellers and its Maple Bacon Onion Jam, which is popular on pizza and also as an addition to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, according to Stiker. “Spicy Chili Bacon Jam should be able to do a lot of that,” he said.
For the dedicated chili-heads, Stonewall Kitchen will be offering Ghost Pepper Salsa. “It’s going to have a lot of heat to it,” Stiker said. It’s so hot that the company’s usual 28-employee tasting panel couldn’t really wrap their mouths around it enthusiastically enough to approve it for production, so Stonewall Kitchen called together a volunteer group of people who already knew that they liked a really hot salsa and let them try it. “That’s when we realized we had a winner,” Stiker said. “It’s an absolutely terrific but very hot salsa.” To quench thirst without putting out the fire after a taste of the Ghost Pepper Salsa, Stonewall Kitchen is introducing Spicy Margarita Mixer.
For home cooks who want traditional taste without the traditional time commitment, Stonewall Kitchen is expanding its Meal Starter line with Yankee Pot Roast Meal Starter.“It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect a meal starter for a Yankee pot roast to have,” Stiker says. “The home cook just adds the beef.”
The new product introductions include a number of other items from Farmhouse Cheesy Grits for breakfast to Creme de Menthe Chocolate Sauce that are also extensions of the kinds of products we expect from Stonewall Kitchen, and you’ll be able to taste them all by visiting the Stonewall Kitchen booth at the show, but while you’re there, be sure also to note new 2-ounce grab-and-go packaging for the company’s Ultimate Snack Mix and Spicy Ultimate Snack Mix. The Stonewall Kitchen snack mixes represent the gourmet indulgence end of the snack food spectrum, and these new products are designed as a convenient snack solution for the American consumer who wants a quick pick-me-up on the go. They’ll display well on a countertop or next to the cash register, Stiker said.
