In recent years the organic food industry has boomed. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), organic products are available in three out of four supermarkets and make up 5.5% of total US food sales or an estimated $45.2B annually. Consumers are turning to organically produced goods, which include prepackaged items as part of a growing health trend. On Twitter, #organic refreshes with a new tweet, every ten seconds, and Instagram has over 37M posts.

All natural and organic supermarkets like Trader Joes and Whole Foods started the health chain movement, accelerating the organic market forward, and now traditional grocery stores have caught onto the trend. Kroger currently offers a wide selection of organic products and has recently announced its intent to add more natural merchandise to its shelves, such as skin care products that include CBD oil. Publix, one of CSG’s top supermarket chains, has also seen the trend and in response to the demand has created an all natural foods grocery store, the GreenWise Market.
The new GreenWise Market had intended to open five locations between October 2018 and the end of 2019. However, after the first three locations opened earlier this year, Publix has announced the opening of five additional stores. This decision to increase location count and competition in this space reinforces the need for more organic and naturally produced merchandise. CSG’s Supermarket, Grocery & Convenience Store Chain Database currently updates information for over 600 grocery stores that offer organic products, and with the rise of consumer demand, that number is going to grow.