Twenty-five percent of the millennials in America are parents. In the next 10 to 15 years, 80 percent of millennials will be moms and dads. What this means for organic food-buying could be transformative.
A new and expanded survey on the organic attitude of U.S. families released by the Organic Trade Association shows that millennials are big buyers of organic, and that becoming a parent will only deepen the strong affinity for organic shared by this powerful generation.
“Millennials are the largest consumer group in the United States, and they’re choosing organic. As more members of this generation become parents, their presence in the organic market will just get stronger,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and executive director of the Organic Trade Association, in a statement. “This year’s survey findings clearly show the positive relationship between organic and parenting. Exciting times lie ahead for the organic sector. Over the next 10 years, we’ll see a surge of new organic eaters and consumers—the millennial parents of tomorrow and their children.”
The connection between organic and parenting
The survey shows that heavy buyers of organic—people who always or most of the time choose organic—are driven by a strong belief that selecting organic for their family makes them better parents. That buyer is actively seeking out healthy, nutritious choices for themselves and their children—that’s the No. 1 motivator for this group when choosing food, followed by the product’s being organic.
Concerns about the effects of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics on an individual’s health and the health of that individual’s children, along with the desire to avoid highly processed foods and artificial ingredients for the family were also top reasons to buy organic.
Baby food ranked as the top category for which respondents said that buying organic is extremely important, surpassing the fruits and vegetables category for the first time in the history of the survey. Food targeted to kids was also among the categories most important for buying organic.
And the parenting kids receive also shapes their buying habits as adults. Heavy buyers of organic—millennials with or without children—are much more likely to have been raised eating organic foods and being taught to make organic choices. Today’s organic buyers with children are already passing their organic habits on to the next generation, and so will the millennial parents-to-be.
