Australia’s organic health and beauty market reached a record $148 million last year – making it the seventh largest organic market category in Australia – according to the latest Australian Organic Market Report.
The health and beauty market (comprising $136 million in domestic sales and $12 million in exports) was the only non-food and beverage sector to make it in the report’s list of the Top 10 organic sectors.
Organic skincare/cosmetics also made the strongest gains in purchase participation with 37 percent of respondents saying they purchased at lest one organic skincare/cosmetic product in 2018 – eight percent more than the 29 percent who did so in 2017.
Furthermore 21 percent of the respondents said they typically purchased one organic skincare/cosmetic item every 30 days.
Overall, the Australian Organic Market Report, based on a survey of 1025 Australians by market research group Mobium Group as well as industry insights by the University of New England, found that that local demand for certified organic products is skyrocketing with $1.93 billion dollars generated in domestic sales for 2018 – up $256 million from $1.67 billion in 2017.
Other key findings in the report include:
- 65 percent of households said they purchased at least one organic product in 2018 – five percent more than in 2017.
- Just under half of organic shoppers say they purchased organic due to increased awareness of the impact of food and cosmetics on their personal health.
- Over seven in 10 shoppers use Google to search for information about organics.
- More than half of organic buyers (55 percent) say that they look for a certification logo on the label to check if a product is organic.
Australian Organic general manager Niki Ford said the increase in domestic sales is reflective of the high recognition factor of the industry’s distinctive bud logo on products which is now recognized by more than 50 per cent of consumers.
“Unfortunately, there’s been a raft of non-certified products in the market purporting to be organic when they’re not,” she said.
“Given this, the amount of people checking for a certification logo on the label to check if a product is organic is now significantly higher compared to the recognition factor of just 34 per cent in 2012.
“More than six in ten shoppers agree that an organic certification mark would increase their trust in organic products, with over a quarter (29 per cent) saying that an organic certification mark would have a strong level of influence over their organic purchase decisions.”
Ford said it was apparent the rapidly growing domestic market needs to be regulated, given that the Australian export market already has regulations in place.
“It’s important that Australian consumers can trust that their dollars are being spent on products that have been rigorously tested to ensure they meet the industry standards and not fooled by clever marketing or simply a brand name containing the word ‘organic’,” she said.
Australian Organic has an ongoing dialogue with the industry regulator on this topic and is currently petitioning for a stronger approach to domestic regulation.”
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