US organic up except dairy

US organic food sales rose 5.9% to $47.9 billion in 2018 and now account for almost 6% of all food sales, which grew by 2.3%.

Reasons highlighted by the Organic Trade Association include “clean, transparent, fresh, sustainable … environmentally friendly, animal humane, high quality, social activism.”

Fruit and vegetables were the biggest segment at $17.8 billion, up 5.6% compared with a 1.7% increase for all fruit and vegetables.

Dairy and egg sales were $6.5 billion, a rise of 0.8%. Organic eggs jumped 9.3% to $858 million, meaning organic dairy fell back.

The Association emphasised the need for continuing dairy innovation to combat the advance of plant-based products, acknowledging 2018 successes for “milk beverages with increased protein, more full-fat dairy products, new flavours and grass-fed products.”