Natural Food
Market
Mean Annual Sales: $1,977,273
Mean # of SKUs: 126
Mean # of Countries
Imported From: 2.9
Up 30%
or more
Up
20–29%
Up
10–19%
Up
1–9%
Unchanged
Down
1–9%
Down
10–19%
Down
20–29%
30%
20%
10%
0%
18% 18%
0%
18%
36%
9%
0%
0%
Dollar Sales
Change in
2016
Mean Share of Sales by Channel
Source: Mintel
Distributor
to Retail
34%
Direct to
Retail
28%
Direct to
Foodservice
7%
Distributor to
Foodservice
10%
Direct to
Consumer
11%
Other
10%
Source: Mintel
Fastest Growing
Channels
Natural Supermarkets
(e.g., Whole Foods Market)
Conventional Supermarkets
(e.g., Kroger, Safeway)
27%
18%
Source: Mintel
%
THE SPECIALTY FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
IMPORTERS
mporters are not growing as quickly as man-
ufacturers, but 36 percent report sales
increases of 20+ percent in the past year.
Ninety-three percent of total annual sales come
from specialty foods. Importers are concerned
about consolidation, competition from domes-
tic producers, and shifts like Whole Foods Mar-
ket's move to centralized buying, leading more
to turn to direct sales to consumers via online
and social media.
I
• Importers are bullish on
specialty foods, with 73
percent planning to expand
their offerings in 2017.
• Importers say foodservice
is their slowest-growing
category, boding well for
local and regional
products in that channel.
• African cuisine is poised
to take off, according to
importers. Products that
capture the flavors and
ingredients of Africa will
be in demand.
What You
Need to
Know
2016
At-a-Glance
S6 STATE OF THE SPECIALTY FOOD INDUSTRY 2017