Fresh Focus: Ethnic Population, College Students Spur Organic Growth

I’ve been thinking about the organic food industry lately. New products seem to be coming on the market every day and yet, for all the talk of growth and success, there’s something missing. I don’t feel the trend in my everyday experience. For instance, none of my friends or family members buy these products, nor do I see organic foods popping up on restaurant menus or in recipe ingredient lists.

If these foods are so hot, why aren’t we eating them at weekend barbecues or talking about them in casual conversations as we would other food trends? In trying to predict the growth potential, it is easier to put a frame around a new trend if we can experience it in our everyday lives so we can make internal predictions about its market potential.

Maybe the population that is buying organic produce is made up of several groups that are not clearly defined yet. For instance, some consumers buy organic foods because they simply want a certain product like a yogurt “smoothie” that just happens to be made with organic ingredients.

Other people may seek out organics on a limited basis, like fresh produce only, but not for all the foods they eat. Still others are passionate enough to seek out as much organic product as possible for their diets. But this still doesn’t give enough demographic information to be able to make sound business decisions about the future viability of a new product line.

Ethnic Consumption

According to the Hartman Group’s report, “Organic 2006: Consumer Attitudes and Behavior, Five Years Later and Into the Future,” some common assumptions have been dispelled for good. From the survey of 2,100 American consumers, it was reported that 73 percent of Americans have purchased organic foods, up from 55 percent in 2000. At the core of this market, 23 percent of Americans buy organic products on a weekly basis.

The Hartman Group also discovered that organic consumers have quite a diverse ethnic profile. Apparently, white Americans are no longer the leading consumer group that buys organic products. In comparison with whites, Hartman found that Asian Americans were more likely to purchase organic foods as were, to a lesser extent, Hispanic Americans. In addition, they found that Hispanics and blacks were more likely to be core organic consumers over whites. Surprising!

Armed with this knowledge and considering that Asians and Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States, it makes sense to focus organic marketing efforts towards them. Not only can products be developed that appeal to ethnic shoppers, but messaging in labels and advertising can be directed to attract these groups.

College Students

Another population segment that is showing a growing interest in organic produce is comprised of college students. In fact, according to USA Today, student-run farms have cropped up at almost 60 schools in 27 states. Students look at these farms as a place for social connections and a chance to get outside of their normal experience and mundane work-out routines.

Also, more than 200 schools have signed up with farm-to-college programs which partners local farms with colleges in order to bring fresh, locally-produced products into the schools’ foodservice systems. Capturing this young population into a positive experience with agricultural systems can promise to develop them into lifelong supporters of farming, whether organic or conventional.

Perhaps another sign of the times is the new trend of colleges launching organic farming degrees. Washington State University was the first to create this line of study in the U.S. – it has been an innovator in organic farming anyway. Michigan State University and Colorado State University are on the verge of degrees in organic farming. And two international organic degrees can be found at universities in Canada and Wales.

It appears I need to expand my own network to include a wider variety of people in order to listen for trends. Study the younger generation because they are the next home-buying, grocery-shopping, baby-making consumers and we need to understand what motivates them. And ethnic populations are continuing to grow so we would be remiss if we didn’t focus attention on what drives their shopping decisions. With young adults and ethnic families embracing these new foods, we could see a whole new surge in shoppers searching for the organic category in the near future.

Edith Garrett & Associates is a consulting firm specializing in helping the produce industry with third-party food safety audit preparation, fresh-cut product development, market research, marketing strategies and advertising plans. For more information, call (616) 784-2728 or visit www.edithgarrett.com.


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