Organic Industry Report

The following highlights some of the major findings in The Organic Trade Association’s 2010 Organic Industry Survey. The complete report is available for purchase by going online (http://www.ota.com/bookstore/14.html) or by contacting [e-mail].

U.S. Organic Industry Overview
Despite the economic recession that gripped the United States in 2009, the organic market continued to experience growth. In 2009, total U.S. organic consumer product sales grew 5.3% to reach $26.6 billion. Organic sales growth continued to outpace total sales of comparable conventional food and non-food items by a significant margin. While organic food sales were up 5.1% in 2009, total food sales were up by only 1.6%. Organic non-food sales experienced 9.1% growth, while total comparable non-food item sales actually declined by 1%.
U.S. Organic Food vs. Total Food Sales, Growth and Penetration, 2000-2009 Category
Organic Food Growth Total Food Growth Organic as % Total

2000
6,100 21.0%

2001
7,360 20.7%

2002
8,635 17.3%

2003
10,381 20.2%

2004
12,002 15.6%

2005
14,223 18.5%

2006
17,221 21.1%

2007
20,410 18.5%

2008
23,607 15.7%

2009
24,803 5.1%

498,380 521,830 530,612 535,406 544,141 566,791 598,136 628,219 659,012 669,556 5.0% 4.7% 1.7% 0.9% 1.6% 4.2% 5.5% 5.0% 4.9% 1.6% 1.2% 1.4% 1.6% 1.9% 2.2% 2.5% 2.9% 3.2% 3.6% 3.7%

Source: Organic Trade Association’s 2010 Organic Industry Survey conducted 1/21/2010 – 3/3/2010.

U.S. Organic Food Sales by Product, 2009

Source: Organic Trade Association’s 2010 Organic Industry Survey conducted 1/21/2010 – 3/3/2010.

The $9.5 billion organic fruits & vegetables category, commanding 38% of the total organic food market, continued to be the major breadwinner for the industry. The category experienced the highest growth for any organic food category in 2009 with 11% growth, making it the only

segment not recording diminished growth from 2008. Organic dairy and packaged & prepared foods were the