Ecovia Intelligence: new growth phase for sustainable foods and cosmetics

As digitalization spurts, the sustainable branch is faced with new challenges. (Photo © Pixabay)

In line with Amazon’s takeover of Whole Foods Market, a new growth phase for the organic and sustainable products market has been initiated according to Ecovia Intelligence. The research, training and consulting company predicts the market’s distribution developing towards online retailing and home delivery schemes mainly implemented by mobile apps. During the last two decades, mainstream retailers started to introduce sustainable foods and natural cosmetics in their product ranges, mostly by marketing the goods under their private labels. Due to a much higher amount of products, food retailers generate higher margins and therefore offer lower prices, which results in struggles for the organic specialist trade.

However, according to Ecovia Intelligence, the greatest challenge for organic and sustainable products is coming from millennials. This group unites the fastest growing buyers of organic foods in the US, generating over half of total sales. millenials are also digital consumers, buying 40% of their groceries online. Particularly with the ever-present use of mobile devices and growing influence of millennials, the next growth phase for sustainable products is likely to proceed in online retailing.

Even though, the future of online retailing holds many chances for the organic market, it also poses great difficulties such as the growing competition at digital marketplaces and the decline of small producers who are not able to compete with food retailers’ online offers. The chances as well as the troubles of digitalization within the organic and sustainability sector will be thematized at the upcoming sustainability summits organized by Ecovia Intelligence:

• Sustainable Foods Summit North America 30-31 January, San Francisco
• Sustainable Cosmetics Summit North America 16-18 May, New York
• Sustainable Foods Summit Europe 14-15 June, Amsterdam