How “health-minded consumers” keep organics movement driving forward.

The average American is driving food sales. It used to be that chefs drove the trends in foods and creating demand for lesser-known commodities that would eventually translate into more sales in supermarkets.

Consumers are more environmentally aware these days, as sustainability seems to be the buzzword for the new decade.

Organics have been a part of the mainstream market for years now, and while the shoppers still see them as their own category, consumers tend to accept organically grown produce as an “added choice”.

Consumers look to organics for that “feel good” factor

Fruits and vegetables become part of health care initiatives

Large farms grew even larger during the mid-20th century. Advances in planting technology boosted yields thanks to chemical treatments.

From 1960 to the end of the decade, consumption of fresh vegetables dropped nearly 8 pounds per person, and per-capita consumption of fresh fruits fell more than 15 pounds.

The transition from mom-and-pop stores to supermarkets and chain stores in the 1930s-40s gave consumers power—the power of choice.

This once rough-around-the-edges industry was, for centuries, a man’s world. It would take a particularly tenacious individual to change the status quo. 

Economic hardship and innovation force shift in the industry

1894-1919: It took a world war to propel the U.S. produce industry into the modern world, one in which horsepower—the mechanized kind—meant product could be shipped nationwide.

1995 - 2019: Outbreak events drive data-driven traceability initiatives

In the 1940's, central markets represented the modern age of commerce. Terminal markets brought together food and people in a bustling hub of activity that represented progress.

Nearly 150 years ago, a railroad spike in Utah Territory linked the U.S. by rail from coast to coast. For the produce industry, railroads changed the name of the game.