Green products are getting the green light

According to Datamonitor, green marketing is still growing strong. So far in 2009, 458 new product launches are of package-goods that claim to be sustainable, environmentally friendly or "eco-friendly." If that pace holds all year, it will triple the number of green launches last year, which in turn was more than double the number in 2007. Seventh Generation CEO Jeffrey Hollender says the company's sales were up 50 percent last year and 20 percent in March, year over year despite Clorox, Church & Dwight and now S.C. Johnson entering the space.

 "The good news is that in general, these products are faring better than most [other] categories," he reports. "A lot of people would be desperate to have 5-percent growth."

Says Tom Vierhile, general manager of Datamonitor's Product Launch Analytics, "It looks like this green trend is going to survive the recession." Part of the secret to green products' survival, Vierhile explains, is manufacturers' desire to save on commodity costs. What's also helped is retailers like Walmart furthering the cause by working to keep green products affordable, as well as the introduction of private-label and value-brand marketers into the category.

Consumers are still buying sustainable lines despite their higher cost. Nielsen Co. data show sales growth of organic food at 5.6 percent/year over year in December from a year ago and that sales at natural-food stores were up 10.9 percent to $4.2 billion last year. Though growth slowed in the fourth quarter, it was still more than 7 percent in December.

Source: Advertising Age, April 20, 2009

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