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Shopping Quiz: Which of These Products Can Be Found in Your Local Grocery Store? Answer: All of the Above Can Be Found at Both Traditional Supermarkets and Stores Specializing in Organic Products

Posted on: Thursday, 29 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Joe Ruff

Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace and specialty healthfood stores are not the only places people in the Omaha area can find organic and natural foods.

Traditional venues like Wal-Mart Supercenters, SuperTarget, Bag 'N Save, Baker's, Hy-Vee, No Frills and Super Saver are carving out more shelf space for meat and milk, snacks, fruits and vegetables that are grown and prepared without herbicides, growth hormones or additives.

"People want good, unadulterated food," said Roger Grohmann, buyer and merchandiser for Omaha-based Bag 'N Save. "The driving force for us to go organic is more of our shoppers want it."

Organic food is grown without genetic engineering, herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. Natural foods are not organic, but they are prepared with minimal processing and often without artificial flavors or colors, sweeteners or preservatives.

The organic trend has been around since the 1970s, but demand has put those items front and center over the last five years, driven largely by concerns about health, said Todd Hultquist, a spokesman for the Food Marketing Institute, a Washington-based trade organization for the grocery industry.

From its early days in bulk oats, yogurt and nuts, the natural and organic foods industry has grown to include frozen dinners, cereals, canned and frozen vegetables, peanut butter, potato chips and cake mixes. There are organic ice creams, frozen hash browns and pies.

Environmentally friendly cleaning products are available, from tub-and-tile cleaners to dishwashing detergents.

"It was pretty 'granola,'" Hultquist said of the early years. "Now it's become big business. It's become coat and tie."

The nation's biggest food manufacturers have gotten into the game, including Kraft Foods and Omaha-based ConAgra Foods. Kraft makes organic cereals and snacks, as well as an organic macaroniand- cheese dinner. ConAgra produces organic canned Hunt's tomatoes and Orville Redenbacher popcorn.

Organic foods represent only about 2 percent of total U.S. food sales, but they are a rapidly growing segment, said Barbara Haumann, a spokeswoman for the Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass.

Sales of organic foods grew about 20 percent annually from 1997 to 2003, from $3.5 billion to $10.3 billion, according to a survey done for the Organic Trade Association. In that same period, total U.S. foods sales grew by a comparatively meager 2 percent to 4 percent each year.

The association also found that organic foods are increasingly mainstream, with traditional supermarkets, mass merchandise and club stores accounting for roughly 44 percent of organic food sales in 2003. Natural and organic groceries and health food stores accounted for about 47 percent of the sales.

Many shoppers tend to pick which products they will purchase at Whole Foods, Omaha's two Wild Oats stores or other health food outlets, and which products they will buy at more traditional markets.

Charlotte White of Omaha said she hunts for sales.

Grohmann said Bag 'N Save's 14 stores overall are offering two- and-a-half times more organic and natural food items than they did just two years ago. Organic and natural food offerings share shelf space with their traditionally produced counterparts, instead of being placed in a special section of the stores, Grohmann said.

Hy-Vee Inc., based in West Des Moines, Iowa, has increased its focus on organic foods over the last half-dozen years or so, said Mike Rollins, produce manager at the HyVee Supermarket at 1745 Madison Ave. in Council Bluffs.

For example, new stores -- such as the one replacing his own on Nov. 15 -- are including more room for organic and natural food displays, Rollins said.

Prices for organic foods generally are higher, but not always, Grohmann said. A brand of organic coffee sold recently for $7.69 for 12 ounces at Bag 'N Save's store at 7646 Dodge St. The same amount of a traditionally grown coffee was priced at $7.99.

On the other hand, an allnatural cheese pizza at Whole Foods recently was priced at $3.99, or 28 cents an ounce. A similar sized cheese pizza at Bag 'N Save sold for $2.50, or 14 cents an ounce.

Grocery stores tend to respond to the needs of their neighborhoods, and not every outlet has the same selection of natural and organic foods. At Omaha-based No Frills stores, for example, all have some selection of natural or organic products, but some have more options than others, said Mike Zortman of Kehe Foods, an Illinois company that supplies specialty products for No Frills.

Whole Foods Market, which opened last week, and Wild Oats, which has been in Omaha since 2001, offer a wider selection of natural and organic foods than traditional grocery stores. They also feature gourmet coffee, elaborate salads, unusual spices and other amenities designed to make shopping an experience.

"The same reason we're adding products is why they are there," Grohmann said. "There's a customer demand for it."

Wild Oats, meanwhile, last month began stocking some convenience items like Tide laundry detergent and Clorox bleach that it says customers want so they can avoid shopping at two stores to buy their groceries.

"It's a more convenient way to get staples," said Gary Pellow, marketing manager at Wild Oats at 7801 Dodge St. "You do get some people raising their eyebrows about it. But when we stress trying to bring this concept to more people, they understand."

Source: Omaha World - Herald

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