Sales of organic food in the U.S. rose by more than $3 billion in 2016 to $47 billion. The Organic Trade Association (OTA) reported at its annual meeting this week that this is the first time organic food sales have topped $40 billion.
Organic food now accounts for 5.3 percent of total food sales in the United States – the highest it has ever been, said the OTA.
“Organic food sales increased by 8.4 percent, or $3.3 billion, from 2015, compared to 0.6 percent growth rate in the overall food market,” OTA said. Sales of organic non-food products were up 8.8 percent in 2016, also handily surpassing the overall non-food growth rate of 0.8 percent.
Fruits and vegetables remained the top sales sector with nearly $16 billion in sales and almost 40 percent of all organic food sales. Meat and poultry rose to $991 million, a 17 percent rise on 2015, and will approach the $1-billion mark for the first time in 2017, OTA said.
Non-food organic product sales rose to nearly 9 percent to $4 billion, up by 9 percent on the previous year. Most of the sames were in the organic fiber, supplements and personal care product sectors. Supplies of organic textiles continue to be a challenge, despite U.S. organic cotton farmers produced a record crop in 2016. OTA said this increase could help alleviate some supply concerns.