Buy organic, shop local.
Those are the ideas behind small Chicago organic food stores, which rely on a local customer base. As consumers cut back spending these days, however, organic food presents a ripe target. It can cost up to 40 percent more than its conventional counterpart, according to those working in the industry.
At best, they report, the growth of organic food sales is slowing, but organic producers and grocers are hopeful that folks committed to the organic lifestyle will continue shopping organic.
"We've definitely seen revenues go down this year, especially since last November," said Steve Parkes, owner of New Leaf Natural Grocer Inc., a small organic store close by the Loyola elevated station on the CTA's Red Line. But Parkes said revenues aren't down as much as he expected. "I figured that people would just bail on it," Parkes said. "The message actually got through and [buying organic] is more than a trend."
The Organic Trade Association says organics grew at a rate of 14 percent to 21 percent annually between 1998 and 2006, then reached an estimated $20 billion for 2007; the association's report of 2008 sales is due in two weeks. In comparison, sales in 1990 were only $1 billion.
In fact, according to Mintel International Group Ltd., which monitors certain aspects of the organic industry, the growth rate of organics began to flag in 2007, before the recession started in December of that year. But a Mintel report last October report also noted that private label organic sales have "exploded in recent years."
A Nielsen Co. report last fall stated that in a four-week period ended Oct. 4 sales of bar-coded organics grew at rate of 11.2 percent, compared with sales growth of 27.1 percent in the year-earlier period.
"We have a very, very loyal group of people," said Cassie Green, owner of Green Grocer Chicago, at 1402 W. Grand Ave. "Loyal to, I think, this lifestyle and also loyal to us because they're neighborhood people." Green's 900-square-foot store, open 14 months, uses mostly local suppliers, too. Nevertheless, she said, even her loyal customers have been affected by the recession.
Full story: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=122563
