3 Major Trends Driving Organic, Natural, and Non-GMO

By Carl Jorgensen

November 14, 2018

Clean eating has long since passed from fad to mainstream, but is it the future of food? Here’s a look at what consumers are telling us about three fundamental trends that will drive the growth of organic, natural and non-GMO products far into the future.

Free From: Protecting myself and my family

The latest data from Linkage Research and Consulting’s Free From Forum Market Monitor, a monthly survey with 1,000+ representative American households, shows that U.S. consumers who prioritize natural eating rank everything “artificial” at the top of the list of food ingredients to be avoided: artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and sweeteners.

What strategies are consumers using to avoid the ingredients they perceive as harmful? First, we have become a nation of label readers. 43% of households believe it is important for the foods they choose to be all natural (Linkage), and therefore it is no surprise that, according to Nielsen, 67% of consumers want to know everything that goes into the products they buy.

Nature Knows Best: It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature

We all accept that “natural” has become an empty marketing term. However, “natural” continues to have enormous resonance with consumers. We want to feel that what we eat, what we put on our skin, and what we use in our households is as close as possible to the way nature intended it. That means something different to each one of us, but the underlying belief that drives the desire for “natural” is the idea that nature knows what’s best for us. When the Free From Forum asked consumers, “Which of the following are important factors you and others in your household consider when choosing what foods to eat?” the most important was “All-Natural” (43%). The next most important factor was “Non-GMO” (35%). The driving force behind consumer skepticism about genetically engineered food comes down to their intuitive belief that it is not natural.

Save the Planet: Feeding the world without damaging the environment

While most consumers don’t know all the details, there is growing demand for sustainable products with 19% of households reporting they feel it’s important to choose foods that are sustainable (Linkage). Growing awareness that how we produce our food has an impact on the environment and on climate change is a key driver for this demand. Consumers want their food to be more “sustainable,” a term that shares a fuzziness factor with “natural.” One way to get a more precise understanding of how resonant sustainability is with consumers is to look at how they rate “organic” as a “sustainable” way to produce food. Unlike natural, organic is a government-regulated set of rules and oversight mechanisms that makes a set of specific guarantees: no synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, no GMOs, and no artificial ingredients. In addition, it mandates practices that build healthy soils, promote wildlife diversity and preserve clean water. 29% of US households that feel organic is important in the food they buy also seek out sustainable products.

The fast-growing plant-based food category is driven not only by healthy eating beliefs, but also by the increasingly accepted notion that producing plant-based foods is kinder to the planet. Plant proteins require less energy to produce, transport and process. Many grow well in drier, more environmentally-challenged environments, making them an important component of future food security as agriculture faces the challenges of global climate change. For example, 43 gallons of water are required to produce one pound of pulses, while 1,857 gallons are required to produce one pound of beef. One in 6 (16%) of U.S. households are prioritizing plant-based foods today, and nearly half (48%) are experimenting with plant-based substitutes for animal-based products in the last year.

Deeply-held beliefs, not fashion, will drive long-term growth

Marketers and manufacturers of organic, natural and non-GMO products can feel confident that the market will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. New Hope Network has forecasted that natural and organic product sales in the U.S. will grow from approximately $225 billion in 2018 to $260 billion in 2021. The market is not dependent on fashionable notions that come and go, but on deeply-held consumer beliefs and behaviors that are based on instinctual worldviews. Consumers have told us what they want; it’s up to us to provide it.