GMO-Free is Fastest Growing Retail Brand

Monday, March 08, 2010 by: Aaron Turpen, citizen journalist
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(NaturalNews) In a blog post on Nielsen.com¹ earlier this month, Nielsen's Tom Pirovano says that U.S. retailers are
expanding their store brands and the latest, fastest-growing branding
health claim is to label products "GMO-free." This labeling, according
to Nielsen's numbers, is up by 67% in 2009 with a sales growth of $60.2
million in that sector.

In fact, healthy claims are tops in many categories of sales growth for store brands, including "Gluten free" and
claims of adding or bolstering Omega acids.

Most of these store brands are large and are well-known chains, some known for healthy and
whole foods and others more as being cookie-cutter boxes. Supermarkets
have been certifying products as organic for in-store brands for some
time, so the trend towards healthy claims and marketing is not new.

The rise of sentiment against genetically modified foods (GM or GMO) is
growing, however, and market brands reflect that. Readers of NaturalNews
are no simpletons when it comes to the dangers of GM foods.²

With genetically modified organisms and foods being linked to organ damage,
crop failures, increased water usage, and worse, consumers are finally
waking up to the dangers of these products.

Another hot growing trend amongst retail store brands is the claim of being high fructose
corn syrup free, which gained 28% or $13 million in market share,
according to the Nielsen numbers. This one may become a growing trend,
and as Pirovano points out, many retailers are adopting a "wait-and-see
attutide to determine if a claim has 'legs' or is merely the latest blip
on the consumer trend screen."

Further, thousands of organic and natural food products are now enrolled in the Non-GMO Project's Product
Verification Program (known as PVP). This is the nation's first and
largest system for scientific testing of product standards against
genetic modification.³ This project includes some of the
biggest retail names in the food industry and labels from the PVP will
be appearing on retail packages this year.

As sentiment against the GMO seeds and products made from their crops grows, so too will the
retail market backlash. Although government agencies like the Food and
Drug Administration have refused to rule against GM foods, despite the
evidence, the free market and consumer demand is turning the tide
against them on its own.

As Shelly Roche of Bytestyle.tv says, "The great thing about this new report is that it shows how quickly the
market responds when it sees a shift in consumer demand."⁴

It's becoming obvious that many health-conscious consumers in America are
indeed voting with their forks.

Resources:
1 - U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 4: Store Brands Expand Healthy Offe...
by Tom Pirovano, Director of Industry Insights, Nielsen Co.

2 - Feature NaturalNews Articles on GMOs and http://www.naturalnews.com/027931_G...

3 - Non-GMO Project

4 - 'GMO-free' is fastest-growing retailer brand claim by Shelly Roche,
Bytestyle.tv

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About the author

Aaron Turpen is a professional writer living in Wyoming in the USA. He is also the Director of Gateway's Needy Animals, a local
animal shelter and rescue in the eastern Wyoming area. His blog covers
organic/sustainable living and environmental considerations at AaronsEnvironMental.com..