Latest Organic Survey Shows Continued Growth in U.S.

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) just released the preliminary findings from its annual Organic Industry Survey. They found that retail organic food sales in the U.S. reached a new high of $43 billion in 2016, up 8.4% from the previous year and exceeding the 0.6% growth rate for the overall food market. Organic food sales represent an estimated 5.3% of all U.S. retail food sales. Organic fruits and vegetables remained the largest sector at $15.6 billion in sales, and accounted for 36% of all organic food sales. Organic meat and poultry sales were up 17% in 2016. Finding enough supply remains a challenge, particularly from U.S. farms, and organic food imports have been increasing.  For more details, see the news release.