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New LOHAS Market-Size Data Released: A $209 Billion Opportunity

New research provides first published update to LOHAS market size since 2000

Harleysville, Pa. (January 31, 2007)– The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), in conjunction with Silvercliffe Media Inc., announced today that consumer spending within the U.S. LOHAS market for 2005 was $209 billion. LOHAS is an acronym for “Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability” and describes an integrated, rapidly growing market for goods and services that appeals to consumers who have a meaningful sense of environmental and social responsibility and incorporate those values into their purchase decisions.

According to NMI Managing Partner Steve French, “We are extremely pleased to announce the release of updated LOHAS market-size numbers – the first update since figures were developed for the year 2000. After six months of extensive research, the latest numbers reflect a high-growth marketplace with rapidly increasing mainstream interest and consumer engagement. In an effort to provide clients with an all-encompassing look at the LOHAS market, this new market-size information will be the perfect complement to the attitudinal and behavioral data from NMI’s annual LOHAS Consumer Trends Database™. We now have a complete suite of tools in order to explore consumer opportunities within the hottest trend in the marketplace.” To conduct the research, NMI partnered with Silvercliffe Media, headed by Frank Lampe. Lampe was a co-founder and principal in Natural Business Communications, which produced and published the original LOHAS market sizing.

“This research provides a new, more accurate benchmark for companies and organizations interested in participating in this now global phenomenon being driven by values-based consumers,” says Lampe, president of Silvercliffe Media. “The LOHAS concept is less than seven years old. Considering the growth and dynamics at play in an admittedly new marketplace, we were able to create a snapshot that should help both further define the space as well as support its growth.”   

Several changes were implemented for the 2006 study. This update focused exclusively on products and services for consumers and did not include business-to-business sales. A reexamination of the categories also took place. “We determined that a reevaluation of the categories and the products and services was necessary to create a new baseline in response to evolving market realities,” states Gwynne Rogers, NMI’s LOHAS Business Director. In addition, some of the categories that were originally part of the LOHAS market in 2000 have now mainstreamed beyond the LOHAS definition. Such items include air purifiers, bottled water and massage therapy, among others. In some cases, NMI and Silvercliffe quantified the percentage of a category’s sales that was related to LOHAS values or behaviors, rather than including the entire category.

The research study was conducted over a six-month period in 2006 and represents data culled from an extensive array of primary and secondary research from industry groups, the U.S. government, and other sources.  Based on this research, U.S. consumer LOHAS spending by the five general segments for 2005 is as follows (with representative sub-categories listed):

Personal Health: $118 billion (includes natural/organic foods, supplements, personal care, alternative medicine, yoga, health/fitness, media)

Eco-Tourism: $24.2 billion (includes eco-travel and adventures)

Alternative Energy: $400 million (includes green pricing programs, renewable energy certificates (RECs))

Alternative Vehicles: $6.1 billion (includes hybrid vehicles, biodiesel, car sharing)

Green Building: $49.7 billion (includes  ENERGY STAR products and homes, other green-certified homes, materials and solar panels)

Natural Lifestyles: $10.6 billion (includes home furnishings/supplies, natural pet products, cleaners, apparel, philanthropy)

In addition, socially responsible investing (including privately managed accounts, SRI screened mutual funds, etc.) represented an additional $215 billion, however this number was not included in the total LOHAS market size due the unique nature of these activities as “investments” rather than “expenditures.”

The new LOHAS market-size data will be available for sale either as part of NMI’s “Understanding the LOHAS Consumer Report” series or as a stand-alone chapter from this report, in February 2007, at the Natural Marketing Institute website. 

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NMI is a strategic consulting, market research, and business development company specializing in the health, wellness, and sustainability marketplace. For more information on NMI’s proprietary research reports and services, visit NMI’s web site at http://www.NMIsolutions.com.

Silvercliffe Media is a media, communications and market-strategy consultancy based in Lafayette, Colo. The company focuses on the LOHAS and healthy living marketplace.

Media

“Message from Frank Lampe: Looking forward, LOHAS,” Frank’s vision for LOHAS in 2007. Sotokoto magazine (Japan), February 2007; in Japanese and English; PDF

Frank Lampe interview, by Kei Izawa. Sotokoto magazine (Japan), March 2007; in Japanese only; PDF

“Niche No More: The growing ranks of conscious consumers is changing the world,” by Marco Visscher, Ode magazine, Issue 17 (2004)

“They Care About the World (and They Shop, Too),” by Amy Cortese, New York Times, July 20, 2003.

The Interview Series

Below are links to a number of interviews conducted by Frank Lampe and published in LOHAS Journal or Natural Business, both co-founded by Lampe as part of Natural Business Communications. He also served as editorial director of Natural Business from 1996-2000 and of LOHAS Journal from 2000-2004.

“The Deal With Dean.” An interview with Steve Demos, co-founder and CEO of White Wave Soyfoods and the story of the sale of the company to Dean Foods for nearly $200 million. LOHAS Journal, October 2002.

“Brown Calls for Advent of Eco-Economy,” an interview with Lester Brown, founder of Washington-based Worldwatch Institute, a research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues, and the Earth Policy Institute, about his book Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth. LOHAS Journal, May 2002.

“Chopra on the Workplace: Business Must Redefine Itself,” an interview with Deepak Chopra, M.D. Natural Business, September, 2001.

“Mackey Speaks.” An interview with Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey about the then-infant LOHAS marketplace, LOHAS Journal, September 2000.

“Alternative Medicine/Industry Connection Has a Way to Go,” an interview with Joseph Pizzorno, N.D., co-founder of Bastyr University in Seattle, upon his retirement after 22 years as president of the naturopathic institution. Natural Business, September 2000.