Organizers of the All Things Organic trade show that takes place later this year in the US said potential concerns over consumers trading down from seemingly luxurious or higher value products would not significantly affect interest in products meeting a number of consumer needs.
“We do not foresee a negative impact on the perceived value of organic, ethnic and specialty foods as a result of the economy,” stated a spokesperson for the organizers.
The long-term future for growth in the US organic food market remains uncertain though according to recent findings by research groups like The Hartman Group, which believes that demand is currently stagnant.
However, organizers at the show suggest that potential synergies between ethnic goods that can also cater for private label concerns and even organic production are already being catered for.
A spokesperson told FoodNavigator-USA.com that more lower cost, organic goods were already being seen on the market, while retail stores like as Wegmans and Target also have moved to provide own-brand Asian and Mexican-style dishes.
Conference trends
It was first announced last year that the All Things Organic conference and expo, which is to be held at McCormick Place in Chicago from 16 to 18 June, will run alongside the Expo Comida Latina and All Asia Food shows.
While all three events are being ran in partnership with Diversified Business Communications, the OTA claimed last August that Asian-American and Latin American consumers were an increasingly important focus for organic manufacturers.
As the economic downturn has increasingly become a concern for manufacturers and consumers alike in the last twelve months, navigating a market ever-more reliant on tighter costs and maintaining value will be a key focus of the upcoming convention.
Organizers for the event said that a number of presentations at the expo will focus on a variety of aspects relating to funding in the ’economic crunch’ as well as developing strategies for organic sales and other trends key in 2009.
“Our organic program provides retail, foodservice buyers and manufacturers with over 40 hours of focused organic content featuring the industry’s most successful companies and leading market research firms,” claimed the organizers.
Despite promising growth in recent years, analysis conducted by the Hartman Group found that demand for organic goods began to slow last tear.
Although the number of consumers using organics increased from 55 percent to 73 percent between 2000 and 2006, there has been no notable change between 2006 and 2008, according to the report called The Many Faces of Organic 2008.
It concluded that the findings “indicate that aggregate organic use patterns have basically remained the same since 2006”.
Shelley Balanko, VP ethnographic research for the analyst, said that it was no longer the case that if food manufacturers make a product organic, consumers will buy it for that reason alone.
She added: “There is still a lot of opportunity to be found but food manufacturers now have to be a lot more judicial in where they put their innovation dollars into going organic."