Mainstream ORGANIC.

Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

Here's a novel tool for saving the planet: organic boxers.

Fred Meyer rolled out a line of Earth-friendly undies last week, the chain's latest addition to its growing collection of organic products.

It's also the latest indicator that organics have moved beyond small specialty stores such as Eugene's Bambini children's wear boutiques - which have focused on natural fabrics since the first store opened in 2001 - and onto the shelves of corporate Goliaths including Wal-Mart and Safeway.

The organic brand is showing up on a rainbow spectrum of mainstream consumer products, as shoppers demand environmentally sound choices and retailers scramble to fill - and expand - a growing niche.

"I guess there's a little bit of both in it, but our business is based on serving our customers," says Melinda Merrill, director of public affairs for Northwest retailer Fred Meyer. "We want to be able to give our customers the products they want, and this is what they want."

And we're talking about more than arugula and sweet corn.

Henry Weinhard's, now owned by Miller Brewing Co., offers Organic Amber Premium Ale. Levi Strauss & Co. introduced Levi's Eco jeans in November - initially an exclusive, $250 per pair item that has morphed into a mass-marketed line priced at $40 to $60 per pair.

There are organic skin-care products from such market leaders as Estee Lauder. And organic household cleaners from companies as old-school as Johnson Wax and as new-age as Gaiam, a Colorado-based company that carries natural products from bath towels to toilet bowl cleaners.

Sales of organic cotton clothing are expected to reach $2.6 billion in 2008, according to the Organic Exchange, a California-based nonprofit. And the Natural Foods Merchandiser's 2007 Market Overview put sales of all natural and organic food products last year at $56.7 billion - a 9.7 percent increase over 2005.

"I don't think (the growth of organic products) is surprising people at all," says Kate Peringer, marketing communications manager for The Hartman Group, a market research firm based in Bellevue, Wash., that specializes in environmental issues.

"We've been doing research on organics for the better part of two decades, and consumers are really concerned about their health and wellness," Peringer says.

The company published a research paper last year on consumer attitudes and behavior toward organic products - a follow-up to its initial report on the topic five years earlier. The 2006 study found that organic shoppers are motivated both by the prospect of doing right by the planet and by improving their odds of avoiding toxin-related health problems.

Organics - at least in the case of food products - are perceived to be a cut above their conventional counterparts. "It's a definition of quality," Peringer says. "Organic is a marker word for (shoppers), and they look for it. They equate it with better taste and ... a higher level of quality."

Last year's study found that 73 percent of American shoppers buy organic products at least occasionally. And 21 percent of those who purchase some organic products fall into what the Hartman Group defined as a core market whose members buy natural products whenever they are available.

"Overall, that's a pretty big number," Peringer says.

Some critics question the devotion of newcomers to the organic table - particularly, large corporations with reputations for focusing on the bottom line. Concerns include the potential for super-retailers to drive wholesale prices so low that small-scale organic farmers won't be able to compete with the industrial-scale farms that are beginning to produce crops that qualify as organic.

"My feelings are so mixed about it," says Shannon Arm, owner of Bambini children's clothing and toy stores - two in Eugene and one in Bend.

"Overall, I think it's wonderful because (the increase in organic sales) is going to benefit the environment and the earth dramatically," Arm says. "The more organic items we can sell and that people carry - whether it's large retailers or small retailers - the better the effect.

"But it does take away from my business, the lower prices (mass-retailers) get."

The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based organic watchdog group, published a white paper last year accusing Wal-Mart of "cheapening the value of the organic label" by importing products from factory farms in Third World countries.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that items labeled as organic are produced without pesticides, genetically modified seeds or stimulants such as growth hormones. But the guidelines do not dictate where items are produced, or which overall farming practices are used.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Tiffany Moffitt says her company's organic products meet all requirements for USDA labeling. Wal-Mart has maintained its philosophy of buying directly from producers at the lowest possible prices and then offering lower retail prices to its customers - but also seeks to reduce transportation costs whenever practical.

"Wal-Mart buys more U.S. agricultural products than any other retailer," Moffitt says. "And we try to purchase from local suppliers whenever possible."

At Fred Meyer, Merrill acknowledges that her company's expansion of its organic product lines is a reaction to strong customer demand. "Consumers around here really look at what they're feeding their families," she says. "It's a big growth area for us."

Beyond the bottom line, Merrill says organic merchandising fits with a corporate philosophy of environmentally friendly business practices.

Arm, the Bambini owner, says she deliberately began seeking organic brands immediately upon opening her first store six years ago.

She says she is dubious that mega-retailers such as Wal-Mart have the same degree of committment to organic as smaller businesses like hers. But concedes that, because of their size, the big retailers can have an impact.

"They're capitalizing on a growing trend," Arm says. "Organic has become more mainstream than it was in years past and they're noticing it's popular and they're going for it. They're going to follow whatever the buzz is out there, and try to undercut everyone.

"On one hand it's real sad, but on the other it's good for the environment."

Lynn Kahle, the Giustina professor of marketing at the University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business, says organic products are governed by the same laws of supply and demand as any other form of retailing.

"There are probably some retailers who are genuinely concerned about saving the planet and doing what's right," Kahle says. "But for others, the growth (in organic interest) is tremendous. If consumers are demanding something, retailers are going to want to provide it."

Some companies may be just jumping onto the organic bandwagon, he says, but that doesn't mean organics is a fad. And it doesn't mean consumers won't be well-served in the long run.

"This is almost a democratic system," Kahle says. "People vote with their dollars, and retailers want to win the election."