The “organic” and “natural” health craze does not seem to be slowing anytime soon. What many thought was originally a fad has continued with unprecedented strength, as the market for organic and all natural products continues to grow, reaching beyond just the food and supplement sectors.
The Organic Generation
The modern “natural health” trend began sometime in the 1970’s and was originally a very small sector of the population. It was out of this group that the terms “wheatgrass” and “granola” became associated with a sort of hippy mentality and, what was then consider to be strange, focus on natural health. It took a while for this to catch on with the general populace, but we are started to see that occur in recent years.
The trend towards “organic” and other natural products has been building since the 2000’s, and has reach unprecedented levels of popularity. One of the main reasons why this trend is showing no signs of slowing over the past decade is the fact that an entire generation of millenials are ascending into adulthood with pre-conceived notions of what health and fitness mean to them. This mass onslaught of health conscious 20 and 30-somethings is coming to be known as the “organic generation”. The obvious result of this has been a growth in the amount of natural foods providers, with brands such as Trader Joes and Whole Foods speaking to the needs of these consumers and reaping the benefits.
However the trend does not stop at foodstuff, as more and more consumers start to more thoroughly inspect the origins of various products and services that they purchase. This has given rise to “organic dry cleaning”, particularly popular in large cities, and even natural dentistry providers, particularly popular among younger parents taking their kids to the dentist.
This trend doesn’t seem like it’s slowing, although the prices don’t seem to be dropping either. Whole foods in particular has been brought under tremendous scrutiny for its inflated prices, garnering the moniker “Whole Paycheck”, as it seems to eat through consumers wallets faster than any other company. Still, even with this, the demand seems to still grow.
Will It Slow Down?
Only time will tell whether the onslaught of organic-buying, natural remedy crazed consumers will slow. One thing seems to be in agreement though, this generation has already bought it. From Yoga mats to spring water to alternative medicines, this generation of millennials seems to be “all-in” on the organic craze.
The real question is whether we will see similar trends in the next generation, as this current generation starts to have children of their own. Will we see an assimilation of tendencies, or a rebellion against the norms. Historical context seems to point to a rebellion, however it remains to be seen how much of the overall consumer landscape will be affected by a generation’s worth of health purchasing. Will the corporate interests completely assimilate to better provide for these consumers?
