In the last rolling year, consumer research giant Nielsen measured an 11-per-cent increase in sales of organically produced food – an even more impressive growth rate than experienced over the previous year (eight per cent).

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Markus Brand, Senior Analytic Consultant, says that in the past year the firm has counted just under 13 per cent more organic products per average business than in the previous year.

 

Consumer connection

 

To demonstrate how strongly consumers really connect with this trend (and therefore the likelihood that it will continue), Nielsen’s Household Panel confirmed that practically every household buys organic products at least once a year. “However, since almost 80 per cent of all sales are made by only one-third of consumers, we’d like to see if there is a visible group of consumers who deliberately and consistently buy organic products,” Mr Brand advises.

 

Exploring the percentage of households that buy organic products per proportion of their shopping basket, Nielsen modelled the lowest rate of five per cent, assuming that such households purchased organic not due to preference, but rather because of promotions or lack of alternatives. In the last year, for example, 23.5 per cent of households in Switzerland purchased 5-10 per cent organic products — a noticeable increase from the previous year.

 

A “firmly established” trend in purchasing behaviour

 

 “Using a three-year trend, we see a noticeable increase in the number of households that buy more than five per cent of organic products. Furthermore, we see a growing trend of households purchasing 10-20 per cent biological products — 16.3 per cent this year compared to 14.4 per cent last year,” Mr Brand informed.

 

More than half of Swiss households already buy organic products regularly – not for the entire shopping basket, but for certain product groups, he said, and the number of households that purchase more than 40 per cent organic products is also growing steadily.

 

“These are clear indicators that the organic trend has become firmly established in purchasing behaviour and we expect a further increase in the coming years,” Mr Brand concluded.