The Naturalia store on rue d’Aligre in Paris has just been renovated. Natural
The Casino group brand will favor products that are “good for health”, whether organic or not.
Health and pleasure rather than organic. In response to the fall in organic consumption over the past two years, Naturalia intends to “be your own labeland no longer limit its offer to products labeled organic. “Our concern should not be to sell organic products, but to sell healthy productsexplains Allon Zeitoun, the general manager of Naturalia. The organic label responds to this concern but it is not the only one. We find that what matters most to our customers is eating pesticide-free products. So if other labels guarantee pesticide-free products without necessarily being organic, we will accept them in stores.»
“Eating healthy also means eating simpler products. »
Allon Zeitoun, CEO of Naturalia
Naturalia currently offers 95% organic products. It will gradually bring new brands onto its shelves. Thus of Avril, a cosmetics brand which is not organic but offers products “clean, cheaper than organic cosmetics, and effective“. The Hari & co brand of plant products will also make its debut at Naturalia. It is organic but is also sold in traditional supermarkets, which until now was an obstacle to being referenced in specialized organic stores. At the same time, the brand will reduce the share of highly processed organic products it offers in its stores. “Eating healthy also means eating simpler products“, explains Allon Zeitoun. In some cases, Naturalia is more demanding than the organic label. It is about to ban palm oil and nitrites.
Sales of products labeled “organic” fell by 7.4% in supermarkets in 2022 according to NielsenIQ. The fall reaches 12% among specialists. In this context, Naturalia is doing better than the market but is seeing its sales crumble by 7%. Faced with this drop in income, the Casino group brand has rationalized its inventory and closed 26 unprofitable stores. It has worked to make its offer more financially accessible and invested to offer 3,000 products at less than 5 euros and 150 products at “low prices” – milk at 99 cents or spread at 3.49 euros. Naturalia claims to have managed to contain the inflation of its customers’ basket to 1%.
10% of cookies removed from shelves
The fall in the market for organic products nevertheless leads the brand to question itself. Inflation has focused customers’ attention on the price of products. This served the organic, on average 30% more expensive. But beyond that,consumers had been complaining to us for years that we weren’t listening tobelieves Allon Zeitoun after the broadcast of a sketch by Stéphane Guillon mocking the offer of organic stores. Thus the high price of our products, but also an offer that is complex to understand and a haughty attitude that can be excluding. Degrowth is saving because it forces us to listen.»
Read alsoWhy organic products no longer work
To win over customers who have hitherto been reluctant to shop at an organic specialist, Naturalia will focus on the taste of the products. “It is through taste that we are going to attract new consumers, not by making them feel guilty for buying from traditional supermarkets.», Estimates the general manager, in an allusion to his competitor Biocoop. 10% of the biscuits, deemed insufficiently tasty, will thus be removed from its shelves. A pedagogical effort will be made at the same time so that the organic neophyte does not feel lost at Naturalia. The brand’s new store concept provides explanations on the shelves about the interest of a particular oil or legume.
This new positioning is the subject of a communication campaign which touts “products without sulphites and without discomfort», «without sulphites and without limits” or “gluten-free and fuss-free»… without organic mention, too.
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