The Incredibly Challenging Endeavor of Marketing Regenerative Products to Consumers

If you were at Natural Products Expo West this past March, you probably realized one thing: regenerative was the hottest topic of the show.

And for very good reason.

Arguably, regenerative will be the most important theme in the organic industry for the next ten years because our environment, our farms and our food supply are so dependent on soil becoming healthier. Regenerative agriculture is about improving and regenerating the soil, so it can do things such as sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

I also believe that we will experience segmentation within the industry where regenerative organic products will command a premium versus organic products. With consumers viewing regenerative organic products as offering superior quality, brands will increasingly look to capitalize on this important development and launch their own regenerative SKUs.

As a handful of companies have already begun to introduce regenerative organic products into the marketplace, I wanted to share my observations. Without question, marketing regenerative products is no easy task, but here are a few things to consider.

1 ) PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW WHAT REGENERATIVE MEANS

The truth is that most people have no idea what regenerative means, and as of today, simply putting the word “regenerative” on the packaging will not be enough.

Here are two data points to confirm this.

First, despite the fact that USDA certified organic products have been around for more than 15 years, people still don’t understand what organic means.

In its 2017 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report, The Food Marketing Institute said that shoppers are looking for “natural” (24%) and “Non-GMO” (23%) claims much more than “organic” ones (16%), despite the fact that both of those claims are inferior to organic. If consumers are still not getting the message about organic, how will they understand regenerative, a much more confusing and unregulated term?

Second, I recently spoke to a major organic brand who said they did an informal poll inside of a national natural supermarket chain. Out of the 20 people that the company spoke with, not one person knew what regenerative was.

Admittedly, this was a very, very small sampling, but the results should make us all take notice.

2 ) PLAY TO CONSUMERS’ SELF-INTEREST

Most people come to organic because they do not want to consume toxic chemicals that have been sprayed on their food.

This was confirmed in a recent poll, which asked 3,000 citizens in the UK, Australia and the U.S. why they purchase organic food. Overwhelmingly, the answer was for personal health reasons versus concern for the environment, farmers or animals.

Earlier this year, I wrote about a device being developed at the BioNutrient Food Association, which, the group hopes, will eventually be able to measure nutrient density for any fruit or vegetable.

“We are using people’s self-interest to enact global change,” said Dan Kittredge, founder of the organization.

The premise behind this approach is that consumers will act in their self-interest and buy the most nutritious food possible.

Farmers will then be financially motivated to grow the most nutritious food possible, and it is expected that these farming methods and soil management techniques — regenerative agriculture — will benefit the environment the most.

When marketing regenerative products to organic consumers, the same approach should be considered, and the messaging needs to address consumers’ self-interest. But how?

By conveying that regenerative agriculture will result in healthier soil, which will result in healthier, more nutritious food products for consumers. This will appeal to their self-interest.

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Executives at organic food companies have a big challenge ahead of themselves when trying to market regenerative products to customers. There are many important aspects and benefits to regenerative agriculture that should be communicated, but unfortunately, they cannot all fit on the front of the packaging.

The good news is that approximately 20% of organic consumers are making purchasing decisions based on environmental reasons. Furthermore, according to The Food Marketing Institute, 8 out of 10 mobile-minded shoppers said they are using smartphones for digital coupons, recipes, sales specials and product reviews. This means brands could put information about regenerative practices online (accessible by a smartphone), and there is a real likelihood that it will be read.

Despite the complexities around the issue, it is essential that we get this right and consumers flock toward regenerative products. Our planet cannot afford for shoppers to be uninformed or confused.

Have a great day! Max Goldberg, Founder