Taking stock IN yourself
In a tough economy, what do you invest in? The answer may be yourself.
Have you noticed that the number of stores in the health food/healthy living segment is expanding? Health/organic food stores are springing up all over the place, including local neighbourhood plazas.
Noticing a brand new Planet Organic store in one of these plazas, I paid a visit. While I didn’t recognize most of the products on the shelves, and wouldn’t know what to do with them – enough people must; there are now 3 Planet Organic stores in Ontario - and a total of 10 across the country.
About the organic market:
The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada website says that the sector is diversifying and expanding into new markets while achieving double digit annual growth in production and retail sales over the past decade.
-Retail sales of certified organic products are more than $1 billion – 40% of this at mainstream supermarkets; fresh vegetables account for 25% of organic food sales
-Organic livestock is one of the fastest growing categories
-There are more than 800 certified organic processors and handlers in Canada
-Canada exports a wide selection of certified organic products, ranging from bulk grains to pre-packaged consumer-ready products in every category
-The largest share of our exports goes to the United States, the European Union and Japan
-Organic wheat is our most popular export
Consider the potential - Canadian supermarket sales in 2008 are projected to be $68.4 billion; convenience and specialty store sales, $10 billion; health and personal care stores, 29 billion. (Kubas Consultants’ Retail Sales Outlook Canada Q4 2008) Kubas forecasts 2009 growth at 4% in the food and beverage category - trailing only behind general merchandise stores (4.4%) and home electronics and appliance stores (4.9%) - in the retail sales category. How much growth we’ll see in the ‘health and organic market’ in this economy is to be seen; it will be interesting and may tell a story about what consumers value and where they are willing to spend their money.
As for Planet Organic, it offers an attractive value proposition, including the promise to “refund your money within 14 days if you are not satisfied with any purchase” (as long as you provide the receipt as proof of purchase). The company walks the talk about caring for the environment and sustainability. Through a national partnership with the Sierra Club of Canada, Planet Organic supports their commitment to protecting biodiversity and raising awareness of specific issues related to health & environment and environmental stewardship. Another nice to know - each Planet Organic store sponsors three foster parent families in Africa through the support of customer and employee donations.
Of course it’s not only what you eat, but how you manage your general well being. A fairly new initiative called "Help Yourself Campaign" is a social media portal to help Canadians learn more about natural solutions – sponsored by Orthomolecular Health. The site has numerous resources including discussion forums, by health issue, such as chronic fatigue, or depression. Individuals can share their treatment experiences, with links to related articles in the Orthomolecular Journal a click away.
So what does Orthomolecular mean? Simply, it’s the science that “allows individuals to identify natural imbalances in their biochemical makeup and use vitamins and minerals to correct the imbalance.” An orthomolecular practitioner can help determine the appropriate level of vitamins and minerals to optimize your health.
Another thing to take stock of before you purchase products at your local health food store.
