Irwin Simon, the founder and CEO of Hain Celestial (HAIN -1.05%), discusses the international opportunities for organic foods with Motley Fool analyst Brendan Byrnes.
Irwin says he's spent a lot of time in the U.K. Retailers there have come to Hain and told the company that they are five years behind the U.S. in healthy foods. On the other hand, in the U.K., 50% of the foods sold are fresh. That's not the case here in America, Irwin says.
Still, obesity rates in the U.K. are the second highest in the world. Consumers there don't necessarily want organic foods, but they do want natural foods and foods that are unprocessed, Irwin says.
In the U.K., they are learning some of the same lessons about self-inflicted health problems as we've been learning here. As healthier foods find their way onto more supermarket shelves across Europe, Hain has a big opportunity, Irwin says.