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04.09.2008

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RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY AND SAVE 10%» THE MANY FACES OF ORGANIC 2008 The organic consumer is changing. Keep pace with this changing marketplace and reserve your copy of The Many Faces of Organic today! Time is running out to save 10% off publication price! Pre-order your copy today and save!

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For more Hartman Group articles on ORGANIC, click here...

06.27.2007"Making (more) Room for Private Label Organic"

03.28.2007 "The 'Fiber' of Organics"

11.01.2006 "Consumer Culture and the Future of Organic Usage"

09.27.2006 "Most Recognized Organic Brands"

06.07.2006 "Experience vs. Products: What Is the Value of Organic?"

06.07.2006 "What Makes Food Organic?: The Twinkie Problem"

04.12.2006 "Wal-Mart Goes Organic"

11.18.2004 "The Branding of Organics: What Works & What Doesn't"

04.27.2004 "The Symbolic Power of 'Organic'"

07.12.2002 "The Organic Consumer May Not Be Who You Think It Is"

12.13.2002 "Hanging on to Your Organic Consumers"

Archives »
Click here for an archive of past HartBeat articles

Fresh Thinking on Organic

In 2005, we documented a quiet revolution in fresh that was infiltrating every nook and cranny of consumers’ pantries and kitchens, mainstream supermarkets, and the food industry as a whole. Today, in a preview finding from our The Many Faces of Organic 2008 report (due out this summer), we see “fresh” serving as the paramount mark of distinction for consumers when making food choices.

When organic products first exploded into conventional settings in the late 1990s, it seemed the potential for growth was limitless. Organic pioneers were seen to be cultivating a category of products that were good for the environment, consumers and small farmers, and consumers faithfully embraced organics for their absence of negative elements such as pesticides, hormones, GMOs and artificial ingredients. With so much good, the sky surely was the limit? Right?

While our newest organic study finds that the sky hasn’t fallen, the organic surge may at least be cresting.

Freshness Trumps Organic

To consumers the idea of organic is increasingly less about objective distinctions and is becoming more symbolic in nature. A halo equating quality notions like “non-processed,” “real,” “pure,” “authentic,” “handcrafted,” “tasty,” hovers over organics as much as notions of such products being “free of” negative ingredients. Beneath the halo of healthiness, “fresh” outshines the variety of attributes associated with organic.

Consumers have looked to “organic” as an assurance for quality for some time now. It means many things to many people and serves a multi-faceted symbol representing everything from quality to health to ideology and more (Figure 1).

Competing for Quality

As a unique label, our new study shows organic is increasingly forced to vie with very specific and objective socially conscious markers. Organics still hold their place as an element of the overall consumer quest for quality in terms of living healthy lives. In the area of product narrative, however, “organic” is but one of many specific distinctions motivating consumers to purchase.

“Organic” often lends itself to notion of authenticity, which is yet another distinction of quality consumers are looking for in products today. Stories of production and origin connote formidable authenticity to products competing with conventional products, and give consumers the impression that organic products are of a higher quality (i.e., premium), authentic and the best option.

While the quiet revolution in quality proceeds, consumer immersion and experimentation with organics continues. As seen in our organic research stretching back for more than a decade, primary triggers for entering the organic category remain fairly constant:

• Being diagnosed with a health condition (one’s self, family member, immediate social network)
• Having children or children transitioning to food
• Social influences (personal and broader community)

Such behavioral motivations to participate in organics are not anticipated to diminish any time soon, though they are coming in contact more frequently with other related product categories, namely ethical, local and artisan products. As consumer involvement in organics expands, the idea of “organic” is coming to mean many more things to an ever-more diverse group of consumers.

The epoch of quality now in play implies that organic marketers will need to understand the aspects of the category that resonate with consumers, and those that are more relevant to broader influences, such as the pursuit of fresh, premium products.

To reserve your copy of The Many Faces of Organic 2008 and save 10% off the published price contact Blaine Becker: blaine@hartman-group.com or call 425.452.0818, ext. 124.

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