Organic fresh produce sales register double digit growth in the second quarter of 2020

Total organic fresh produce sales and volume registered double digit growth in the second quarter of 2020, with April-June 2020 sales increasing 17 percent and volume up 18 percent from the same period in 2019, according to the Q2 2020 Organic Produce Performance Report released exclusively by the Organic Produce Network and Category Partners. 

Organic fresh produce in Q2 2020 saw a continuation of trends established in March of this year, with elevated sales across the entire supermarket sector as consumers continued at-home eating in the face of restaurant closures. As a result, sales of organic fresh produce topped $1.7 billion for the quarter, and continued a trend of organic fresh produce sales maintaining higher growth rates than conventional produce. For the first half of 2020, organic fresh produce sales were up 11% in dollar growth and 13% in volume over the first six months of 2019. Total organic fresh produce sales for January-June of this year totaled $3.3 billion.

Overall, organic fruit and vegetable sales increased 17.0% in Q2, slightly higher than conventional produce, which increased by 16.1% during April-June. Organic fruit and vegetable volume increased by 18.2% during Q2, exceeding volume growth in conventional produce of 12.9%. The Q2 2020 Organic Produce Performance Report utilized Nielsen retail scan data covering total food sales and outlets in the United States over the months April, May and June.

“While we see some moderated growth in organic sales in the second quarter of 2020, consumers continue to follow established pre-COVID-19 organic fresh produce purchasing habits despite the negative economic impacts of the pandemic,” said Matt Seeley, CEO of the Organic Produce Network. 

For the most recent month, volume and dollar gains of organic fresh produce in June dropped slightly from levels seen in April and May. For the month of April, organic produce dollars sales were up 18.4%, with May up by 16.3% from the same time period last year. June organic dollar sales increased 14.4%, sliding from levels of earlier in the pandemic crisis.

“Packaged salads continue to be the organic sales driver, with bananas the clear volume leader. From a space to sales perspective there is likely no other organic item in the produce department that can match the consumer purchase rate of bananas,” said Steve Lutz, Senior Vice President, Insights and Innovation at Category Partners. “Three categories clearly drive volume growth: bananas, apples and carrots—with those three commodities driving 46% of all incremental volume during the second quarter of this year.”

The full Q22020 Organic Produce Performance Report  is available on the Organic Produce Network website at https://www.organicproducenetwork.com/education.