In spite of price hike fatigue, consumers are still snapping up organic foods

Food prices jump around a lot. Fresh produce; processed fruits and vegetables; meat, eggs and dairy; bread and cereals, non-alcoholic beverages — these are all among the most price-volatile product categories in the Consumer Price Index (CPIP), according to the Atlanta Fed.

But still, looking over the past several half-decade, the trajectory of food prices has been up, and staying up. Since 2020, the cost of food-at-home has risen 26%, according to BLS data.

It’s one reason why consumer sentiment has been so lousy.

So it would be logical to assume increasingly cash-strapped consumers would be doing anything and everything to cut back on their food spending, including avoiding some of the most expensive grocery items, like higher-priced organic products.

These items carry the USDA organic certification, which limits the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and mandates eco-friendly soil treatment and livestock rearing practices.

But it turns out that far from cutting back, American consumers are doubling down in the organic department — buying and spending more, even as the cost of their overall food basket keeps going up.

At a busy weekday farmer’s market in downtown Portland, Oregon, the Sunrise Organic Farm stand is packed with customers. Kimber Cavendish is a retired physical therapist and devoted farmer’s market shopper.

“Oh my gosh, we got basil, we got a ton of tomatoes, we got potatoes, we got dill, we got corn, celery,” she said of her purchases. “We’re rabbits.”

Asked if she tracks price differences between organic and conventional produce, she responded, “If it's not organic, we don't buy it.”

“I mean, one little basil is $6 [at Sunrise Organic Farm’s stand] and at Trader Joe's it’s $2.99. But we’re pretty well-versed on all the pesticides and toxins in the vegetables that are not orgagenic,” Cavendish said.

August Winningham was also shopping at the market. He’s a chef and co-owner of Feral, a three-year-old vegan restaurant in Portland.

“I got 20 heads of bi-color corn and some purslane,” he said. “For me, it's not really about organic, it's just about quality, which are generally synonymous. I'm buying for my restaurant, so, like, I do keep an eye on the price, of course. What will the market bear? What can I charge, where at the end of the month I have money that I can pay myself?”

In spite of price differentials between conventional and organic products of anywhere from 20% to well over 100%, a lot of American consumers are choosing organic.

“In 2025, the organic marketplace grew three times faster than the total food marketplace,” said Tom Chapman, co-CEO of the Organic Trade Association, which represents organic producers and brands. “It grew to $76.6 billion, a growth rate of 6.8%.”

And that outsized growth has continued, even in the face of resurgent inflation sparked by the Iran war, said Sherry Frey at market-research firm NielsenIQ.

“The first half of this year, of 2026, organic [was] growing at about 4.2[%] where the total store is just slightly declining at a negative 0.5[%],” Frey said.

She said consumers are behaving in unexpected ways right now. Yes, they’re financially stressed by high food prices. But, “they're a little bit more purposeful,” she said. “That oftentimes means that they might choose something like an organic over a conventional item, buying something that aligns with their values and what their family needs.”

For some consumers, this isn’t a big financial sacrifice, said Scott Dicker at market research firm SPINS.

“Obviously it skews towards higher income,” Dicker said. “However, recently, the lowest earners were increasing their spend at the fastest rate. They are prioritizing their health. And there's something to be said about it being more accessible, retailers carrying more organic products, or being able to order it via Instacart or online.”

In recent years, organic has become ever-more ubiquitous — expanding from premium Whole Foods-type retailers, to mass-market and value outlets like Safeway, Walmart, and Costco.

There’s also been a boom in private-label organic.

All of which “decreases that price gap between an organic or maybe a conventional item,” Frey said. “So there's just more selection in the space for consumers.”

Generational dynamics also favor more growth in organic going forward, said Frey, with Millennials and Gen Z having grown up with the products all around them, in many cases being bought by their parents. “Younger consumers are just much more interested in the sourcing elements,” she said, “whereas for older consumers — Boomers and even Gen Xers — it’s much more the legacy of the brand or the brand’s reputation or the brand's history. For them, that drives trust.”

Organic producers have been raising prices as inflation has spiked to try to keep pace with their rising expenses, just like their conventional counterparts. But they also know there’s a limit to their pricing power, given the inflation stress consumers are under.

“We have seen rising costs in labor, transportation, packaging, equipment, insurance, energy costs,” said Karla Chambers, co-founder of Stahlbush Island Farms, a large grower and processer in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. They raise approximately 15 different crops, on 5,000 irrigated acres, and have a biogas plant to generate some of their own power.

So far, said Chambers, consumer demand for the company’s certified organic and sustainable products hasn’t flagged. “[Consumers] have accepted price increases,” she said. “But I will tell you — you just can't keep pushing on costs. Especially when your competition is South America, it's Mexico — you know, we pay more in an hour than some of these places pay in one and two days.”

Meanwhile, organic producers do have some advantages when it comes to keeping their costs down, especially in the face of soaring oil prices, said Tom Chapman at the Organic Trade Association. “They’re less reliant on nitrogen inputs, petrochemical inputs for pesticides. Organic is kind of seeing the conventional side inflate, while those aren't particularly impacting them.”

New market trends are also attracting new consumers and boosting sales. Tom Chapman at OTA said protein is hot, “in both animal, plant, and everything in between.” Quoting figures for 2025, he said, “Beef was up 44%, pork was up 12%, eggs were up 22%. Dried beans were up almost 14%.”

Scott Dicker at SPINS explains part of this is down to aggressive marketing. “A few years ago, when plant-based food was really taking off, it forced meat and dairy to lean in on some of these attributes: ‘better for health,’ ‘better for planet’,” he said.

Another category growing by leaps and bounds, said Dicker: “Organic sodas, other traditional kind of junk food categories — like, you’re seeing organic candy. There's a big push for ‘permissible indulgences.’”

And at least all that sugar is certified organic. Which for some consumers makes the higher price go down a little easier.