Everybody knows that eating fruits and vegetables are important to maintain a healthy diet – in fact, it is recommended to consume at least 1.5 to 2 servings of fruit a day and 2 – 2.5 cups of vegetables every day. However, one unexpected shift in the organic produce market has vegetable farmers eager to keep their sales–as well as their vegetables–growing.
Despite the fact that the organic food market as a whole is growing, organic peppers were reported to have some serious troubles last fall. Demand was low, and eventually, prices became lower than the cost of doing business.
This spring, however, sales have bounced back, and demand is higher than ever.
“We see the organic category continuing to grow. The demand for our organic peppers continues to be very strong,” Chris Veillon, director of marketing at NatureFresh Farms in Ontario, told The Packer.
According to Sarah Pau, director of marketing for Pure Hothouse Foods Inc. in Leamington, which also markets the Pure Flavor brand, the climate was much better for growing this year.
“Organic greenhouse growing was only bound to happen, thanks to the more consistent climate making yields significantly higher,” she said.
While the appeal of pesticide-free foods is enough to get many people to buy organic, these companies’ marketing efforts should not go unnoticed. While 97% of consumers use internet when researching local products and services, shoppers make 82% of their purchase decisions in the store, and there has been an increased effort on the part of Pure Flavor to both market and grow their organic foods. The company has already announced its plans to expand its organic selections next year.
“Pure Flavor has focused on increasing and strengthening our organic program and is now growing many organic crops,” said Pau.
On average, companies spent 25% of their total marketing budgets on digital marketing in 2014, with that expected to rise to 75% within five years. And if the organic food market continues to grow as fast as it has been in recent months, the organic industry as a whole could see massive and even unprecedented success.
The Oppenheimer Group in British Columbia is another distributor of organics that is anticipating a massive spike in demand and sales. The company cites marketing data from FreshLook demonstrating that organic peppers make up around 4% of all greenhouse pepper sales. The company also says that the data is “indicating an opportunity for peppers to capitalize on the general increase in demand for high-quality organics.”
