Demand for organic and sustainable foods has grown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, finds sustainability development research firm Ecovia Intelligence. Its research shows that online retailers such as Whole Food Markets are seeing the biggest boost. Health food stores that have remained open are also benefiting, winning new customers and attracting higher spend from existing customers as consumers look to boost their personal immunity.
According to Ecovia, the future for the organics sector looks bright and demand will “remain strong” after the crisis has passed. It highlights how previous food and health scares have caused an initial sales spike followed by sustained demand for organic products. For example, the BSE crisis in Europe in 2000 escalated demand for organic meat products and sales remained buoyant in subsequent years. Similarly, SARS led to a spike in demand for organic foods in China (and Asia) in 2004.