The organic feed protein market is a mess, and prices reflect this concern. Organic soybean meal prices are very close to 1K across the entire United States. Organic soybeans are very hard to find, and domestic beans will likely be gone entirely in the next couple of months. There is concern that if the NOP does not step in and handle the issue related to India’s APEDA, organic soybean and byproduct prices could continue to rise and generate demand destruction. Merchandisers are telling The Jacobsen that few consumers have yet to ask for alternatives. The biggest problem is that other options such as organic sunflower meal, organic peas, and organic canola meal have a much lower protein content relative to organic soybean meal.

Food Grade Specialty Corn Chips See Mixed Sales Results

During the heat of the pandemic in March of 2020, consumers stocked up on corn chips and were willing to purchase anything they could get their hands on. Corn chips sales surged in March of 2020 and continue to move higher throughout the second quarter. At the time, some of The Jacobsen clients were telling us that organic and specialty grain processors were increasing their contracts to some extend but and planned on waiting to see if the trend held.

Specialty corn chip sales, including non-GMO corn chip sales and organic corn chip sales, sale mixed results during 2021. Both saw a surge in sales in the first and second quarters, but sales eased as the summer and fall arrived. In 2020, non-GMO corn chip sales increased 22% year over year, according to The Jacobsen. This increase in sales compares to organic corn chip sales, which were flat year over year. As a reference, conventional corn chip sales increased by 12% year over year.