Sales of organic fresh produce items reached nearly $5 billion in 2017, an 8% increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Organic Produce Network (OPN) and Nielsen. Overall, nearly 2 billion pounds of organic produce were sold in grocery stores last year, which is a 10% volume increase from 2016.
Partnering with Nielsen, OPN’s review of 2017 organic fresh produce sales at retail stores across the U.S. shows dollar sales of organic fresh vegetables were $2.4 billion, while organic fresh fruit sales topped $1.6 billion. A near $1 billion in organic value-added produce items brought total sales to $4.8 billion in 2017.
Overall from last year, 2017 sales of organic fruit volume and dollar sales were up 12.6% from 2016, while organic fresh vegetables sales showed a 4% increase in dollar sales and a 6% increase in overall volume.
The most notable growth occurred within organic fruits, led by a 22% increase in organic berry volume sales. Organic berry sales, which include strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, topped $586 million in 2017. Organic apple sales increased by 11%, while the average retail price decreased by 8%.