USA: Sales of non-GMO products increasing

Retail participation in the third annual Non-GMO Month reached an all-time high in October, Spins reports. Consumer awareness of the issues surrounding GMOs is quickly growing and as the only third party non-GMO verification in North America, the Non-GMO Project Verified seal is gaining popularity. According to SPINS, a leading information and service provider for the natural and specialty products industry, expansion of Non-GMO Verified products on shelf has resulted in US$2.4 billion (close to 1.9 billion euros) sales during the past 52 weeks - a 66 % increase over the $1.3 billion the previous year.
 

Given the surge in consumer choice at shelf, it’s not hard to believe the seal is now among the fastest growing label claims in the natural products industry. The Non-GMO Project recognizes more than 6,000 products as meeting its best practice standards for GMO avoidance, many from well-established brands. Categories known for GMO risk have seen the greatest activity from manufacturers seeking the consumer benefit of Non-GMO verification for their products. Those categories include chips, pretzels and snacks, non-dairy beverages and cold cereal. Those three categories combined now have Non-GMO sales that exceed one billion dollars annually.
 

In addition to purchasing products touting the Non-GMO verification seal, consumers are also turning to organics to avoid genetically modified ingredients. Sales of organic products are up 12.2% over the most recent 52-week period versus the prior year, with the highest growth found in natural supermarkets (+15.8%). While natural supermarkets lead in terms of organic product sales growth, it’s specialty gourmet retailers that are seeing the strongest consumer response to Non-GMO products (+23% versus +20% in Natural stores) over the past year. More information is available here: Spins