US sales of certified organic products approached $70 billion in 2023, a new record for the sector. Dollar sales for the American organic marketplace hit $69.7 billion last year, up 3.4 percent, according to the 2024 Organic Industry Survey released this week by the Organic Trade Association (OTA).

Despite stubborn price inflation seen throughout retail aisles, the OTA says consumers “remained clear-eyed about their priorities in the products they chose for themselves and their families, valuing health and sustainability, and seeking out the USDA Organic label”. The trade group says the US organic marketplace recalibrated its supply chain and reconciled the cost of doing business in part with increased retail pricing. The industry continued to grow, with organic food sales in 2023 totalling $63.8 billion and sales of organic non-food products totalling $5.9 billion.

“It is encouraging to see that organic is growing at basically the same rate as the total market. In the face of inflation and considering organic is already seen as a premium category, the current growth shows that consumers continue to choose organic amidst economic challenges and price increases. Although organic is now a maturing sector in the marketplace, we still have plenty of room to grow,” says Tom Chapman, co-CEO of OTA.

Matthew Dillon, co-CEO of OTA, adds that to achieve this growth, “It is essential to educate consumers that choosing organic is a straightforward way to tackle some of the greatest challenges we face. Whether it’s accessing healthy foods, improving transparency in supply chains, mitigating climate change, supporting rural economic resilience, protecting natural resources, or realizing the multitude of other benefits, effectively communicating and delivering on these promises is the key to expanding organic’s share of our dinner plate.”

In 2023, the increase in dollar sales in the organic market was driven more by pricing than unit sales. Even so, notes the OTA, consumers boosted their purchases of many organic products. Increases in unit sales were reported for up to 40 percent of the products tracked in this year’s survey. The survey also showed that prices for many non-organic products climbed at a faster rate than organic products. This suggests that the price gap between conventional and organic is closing, which the OTA believes will help fuel growth for organic products in 2024.

The top organic sellers