JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — The organic and natural segment continues to find favor with consumers, with the category generating approximately $320 billion in sales in 2024.

Natural and organic sales are expected to grow 5% annually through 2028, reaching $348 billion over the next four years, according to the Acosta Group’s Power of Natural and Organic report.

“The natural and organic shopper is now considered mainstream,” said Andrew Fleming, senior vice president of Impact Natural, a division of Acosta. “To drive expanded sales for brands and retailers, we need to highlight the specific health benefits of natural and organic products, paying special attention to millennials and households with children.”

Consumers are seeking natural and organic products due to their perception as healthier, citing health concerns as the No. 1 reason for purchasing within the category in the last six months. Avoiding chemicals and pesticides, avoiding processed foods and supporting environmental health also ranked among the top reasons consumers buy natural and organic offerings.

The top barriers for shoppers in the category include products being too expensive (78%), not believing the “hype” around such products (42%) and conventional products being more practical (34%).

“The natural and organic shopper research we did absolutely identified health as the No.1 reason shoppers are buying natural and organic products, because it's better for their health and their family's health,” said Kathy Risch, senior vice president of shopper insights and thought leadership at Acosta. “We tend to know that a lot of the natural organic products cost more, so that value proposition absolutely justifies itself when it’s healthier for (consumers).”

The report also found organic and natural products are resonating, especially with younger shoppers. Almost 90% of Gen Z consumers and 85% of millennials said they had purchased natural or organic products in the last six months, according to the data. Risch explained the popularity of such products with younger consumers may be due to the more frequent presence of the natural and organic category throughout their lives.

“There is relevance across all generations and all ages, it just tends to be significantly higher level the younger you go because these younger generations grew up with more of the products, the retailers available, and (messaging about) why it’s important and why it’s healthier,” Risch said. “The older generations didn’t grow up with all that communication and product availability, and when you grow up with something, it becomes a part of your lifestyle.

Some consumers do not know the difference between natural marketing claims and organic certification.

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“This messaging of what’s healthy for all also resonates more with the younger (generations). They’re growing up caring and more concerned because that’s what they’ve been taught.”

Despite its success with younger shoppers, the category faces difficulties with consumers remaining confused about the definitions of organic and natural, and especially how they differ. The report found shoppers have “no more clarity on the differentiation of ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ than they did when surveyed in 2022,” with 40% of shoppers saying they believed the two terms meant the same thing. The confusion has resulted in nearly 20% of conventional shoppers choosing not to purchase natural or organic products because they were unaware of the differences. The findings echo the results of a 2024 study from Euromonitor International which showed that consumers were unclear on what an organic certification entails.

“You’re still having people who really don’t understand the meaningful difference, you can be natural but not organic, you can be organic but not natural,” Risch said. “I don’t know why manufacturers and retailers aren’t doing a better job helping.

“I’m not saying that everyone needs to run out there with a dictionary to stores (and) help people define it, but just be really, really clear if you carry a USDA organic label or you are all natural, (to) make the connection to the benefit for the consumer. The education is more important. There’s some packages that are loaded with these stamps and certifications, and is the consumer going to pick up something just because it has six, not four certifications? What they care about is ‘what’s in it for me?’”