Just 15 years ago, most brands competing in the natural and organic products (NOP) industry trained much of their focus on two key factors: retailers aligned with the space and a reasonably well-understood consumer base. Nailing sales hinged on getting products into natural products stores and leveraging well-tread marketing strategies to appeal to everyone from high schoolers to suburban moms to college-town retirees. It all seems quaint today.
The retail landscape has fragmented dramatically, with conventional grocery stores, big-box behemoths, online outlets and social media now selling pouches of organic buckwheat crackers and tubs of cashew yogurt. And just as fragmentation defines the industry’s retail landscape, so does it capture today’s consumers— including how they learn about products.
Marketing revolves around videos posted on TikTok and Instagram, celebrity collaborations, SEO protocols and more, with AI-boosted strategies already blossoming. Meanwhile, a pair of generations that grew up with the internet and smartphones—millennials and Gen Z—represent the heart of the consumer base that NOP brands seek to charm and turn into customers. However, consumers back in 2010 were easier to study and squeeze into sense- making frames. Today, it’s challenging.
We’re here to help you piece together the puzzle. Our annual market overview offers a wide-lens view of the $325.2 billion natural and organic products industry, as well as close-ups of different aspects of this robust marketplace that encompasses everything from multivitamins to regenerative yogurt to fair-trade lip balm and plant-based meats. The overview depends on data from New Hope Network’s Nutrition Business Journal, which digs deep into the broad categories of food and beverage, personal care and supplement products, as well as subcategories such as dairy, adaptogens, snacks, probiotics, deodorant and hair products.
In addition, this year we conducted consumer surveys probing generational differences surrounding purchasing habits, AI, certifications and a whole lot more. In all, the data and analysis provide natural and organic product players with a sharp profile of how the industry is evolving— and rapidly so. As stakeholders navigate such swift changes on myriad fronts, we hope the insights around these consumer surveys, found on the following pages, provide anchors in the increasingly stormy seas.
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