NBJ's Healthy Foods Report 2010

Nutrition Business Journal
June 7, 2010
SKU: NUT6000015
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The healthy foods market in the United States kept pace with overall food industry growth in 2009, but this is far from good news. Annual growth rates continue to slip for healthy foods, which has seen its star dull and tarnish in the protracted economic malaise. Data does suggest, however, that we may have hit the bottom, and growth rates should improve modestly in coming years. As growth takes meaningful hold, healthy foods should increase its share of the total foods market, reaching 23% penetration by 2017. The trends toward natural and organic food and beverages as safer and healthier consumer choices remain particularly strong.

NBJ predicts that natural and organic foods will grow the fastest of any healthy foods categories in the next eight years—with growth of organic reaching nearly 10% in 2012—as product categories like organic fruits & vegetables and natural meat, fish & poultry sidle into the mainstream.

Functional and lesser-evil foods will lose market share to the natural and organic categories in the future, NBJ projects, though functional should retain about a quarter of healthy food sales over the next eight years

With a forecast compound growth rate of nearly 9%, organic foods is expected to be the biggest competitor in healthy foods for the future. Compound annual growth for the total healthy foods industry should hover above 5% for the next eight years, just outpacing the growth of its largest categories, functional and lesser-evil foods.