Growing taste for organic products in the United States

摘要

Although the lack of specific trade statistics prevents a complete picture of international trade in organic products, retail sales figures provide some understanding of its magnitude. International Trade Centre (ITC) research suggests that retail sales in Europe, Japan and the United States -- the major markets for these products -- more than doubled between 1997 and 2001 (from an estimated US 10 billion dollar to about US 21 billion dollar). With retail sales of around US 9.5 billion dollar in 2001 (or 1.5 percent to 2 percent of total food sales), the United States is the world's largest market for this product group.