Mainstream marketers are readying new organic products, even as consumer interest in organic food grows.
 |
| Go Organics for Earth Day boosted organic sales about 15% |
General Mills, ConAgra and Campbell Soup Co. will launch organic items by fall, extending their current portfolios.
Meanwhile, the Go Organic for Earth Day campaign that ran April 22 in 2,500 mostly mainstream grocery stores with 44 manufacturers (April 7 Xtra) boosted consumer awareness of organics to 60% from 55%, and prompted incremental sales of about 15%. Sixty percent of shoppers said they bought organics specifically because of the one-day campaign, according to the Natural Marketing Institute, which researched Go Organic results on behalf of Minneapolis agency Music Matters, which executes Go Organic.
“It’s unbelievable to move the needle that much on such a [relatively] small campaign,” said Music Matters President Michael Martin.
Sales results are still being tabulated, but early reports from grocers show incremental sales of 10% to 30% from the campaign, Martin said.
Organics sales are expected to grow about 21% a year and hit $30 billion in 2007, projects the Organic Trade Association, Greenfield, MA. Last year, organic food and beverage sales hit $10.9 billion, up 18%, reports the Harleysville, PA-based Natural Marketing Institute
That sets the tone for new products, especially in mainstream supermarkets. General Mills extends its Muir Glen brand with a five-item line of soups hitting store shelves in July, and Cascadian Farms Great Measure cereal, pitched as “great for your weight management plan,” also bowing in July.
ConAgra will launch a six-item line of Hunt’s Organic canned tomatoes in September following a four-market test earlier this year. Its Orville Redenbacher brand adds organic microwave popcorn in October. Both will carry the official USDA Organic seal.
“There’s a growing segment of young families who … would consider buying organic versions of the foods they already eat, but prefer sticking with the quality of the brand names they trust,” said Hunt’s VP-brand marketing Valerie Sheppard in a statement.
Campbell adds organic items to its V-8, Pace, Prego and Swanson brands, all bearing the USDA Organic seal. Pace Organic Salsa is in Wal-Mart stores now and rolling out nationally; e-mail to Pace’s consumer database and inclusion in Campbell’s multi-brand FSIs support. V-8, now in Whole Foods stores, will roll out nationally; marketing support isn’t set. Swanson adds a third organic broth with direct-mail, print and FSI support. Campbell bowed its first organic product, Campbell’s Tomato Juice, in 2003.
Network
