NEW YORK – The organic foods trend may be taking a downturn, reports AdAge.com.

"It's been enthusiastically embraced by marketers, blessed by Wal-Mart and touted as the holy grail of growth for an industry desperately in need of it. But after a stupendous start, organic foods are looking suspiciously like a sensation sizzling out," writes the news source.

AdAge.com writes that some marketers are spending more to bring new organic versions of "mainstream foods" than they are earning from product sales, as consumers "balk at paying double" for organic versions of their favorite products. "It's all mounting evidence that the trend, like the low-carb craze before it, is hurtling toward a crash," notes the news source.

One Midwest grocery executive recently pulled organic versions of Campbell's Ragu and Unilever's Prego pasta sauce because of low sales, and predicts a similar fate for organic cereal brands. "Most of my consumers couldn't care less….I see this going the same way as low-carb."

The grocery executive told the news source that the mainstream organic trend "is definitely slowing down," noting that it even thought it won't likely "come to as drastic an end as low-carb," the category appeals to "a much smaller demographic than originally anticipated."

Other food manufacturers such as Kraft Foods are not abandoning the organic market "just yet," notes AdAge.com, noting that the $14 billion category boosted sales by 16.2 percent in 2005, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. Kraft plans to introduce organic versions of its salad dressings in January, "believing there's still plenty of life left in the segment."

"The consumer demand for natural and organic products is increasing, and Kraft is bringing organics more into the mainstream so more and more consumers have access to [them]," a Kraft spokeswoman told the news source.

Kraft isn't the only marketer sticking with organic versions. The news source notes that H.J. Heinz is "gauging retailer interest" in its Classico organic sauces. Campbell Soup Co. is also sticking with his organic Prego sauce and its "more consistent performer," Swanson-brand organic broth. 

"We have dedicated resources and logistics to organics and, though not huge, they're a small niche component of our overall sales," a Campbell spokesman told the news source.

Meanwhile, according to Landor Managing Director Allen Adamson, organic foods are "likely to stay niche," noting that organics tend to "play best in fresh produce and in fresh dairy, and it has far less relevance to shelf-stable products.

So what does all of this mean? According to AdAge.com, "don't count on organic products becoming the flailing food industry's growth rocket," noting that a "slew of retailers and marketers" have indicated 2007 will heed "little in the way of true product development."