On Tuesday morning I had to alter my running schedule because of rain showers.  So, I took to our indoor treadmill to get my daily exercise and had a nice run while watching the Fox Business Stuart Varney morning show.

One of the short business news stories that came on was that they believed you would see McDonald’s stock “pop” a little on Tuesday because they were introducing meal items and pricing to draw the low-budget consumer in for “Back-to-School” meals.  The hosts of the program also made a point to let viewers know that McDonald’s marketing to the “low-budget” clientele was very different from most products that seem to market to the more affluent audience with more disposable incomes.

I had also just read an article that morning about a potential decline of white collar workers and a potential gain of blue collar workers in the U.S.  because of the expected reshoring of American manufacturing jobs and the expected increase of artificial intelligence in white-collar business use.  That combination made me wonder about the traditional (casketed burial) markets that over the years have been overtaken by cremation choices by consumers.

I grew up in a small community in rural America and remember my father’s words when a new owner took ownership of the other funeral home in town.  That owner seemed to be in the newspaper all the time and was quick to become an active member of the Chamber of Commerce.  My dad made the comment to me at the time when I was in middle school and I still remember it to this day, “Let him wine and dine those people all he wants.  We will be happy taking care of the farmers and blue collar workers and there is a lot more of them”.

Now, my dad was an “old shoe” if there ever was one.  He would not know what a “Cesare Attolini brand” suit was, much less ever wear one.  He once told me that he drove an old American Motors Rambler car because “it was all he needed”.  Yet, he took care of any family that called our funeral home with incredible care, compassion, and credit — and most of our clients were the farm families and the blue-collar worker families that sometimes needed all of those attributes.

My dad’s 1966 “Basic White” four-door American Motors Rambler

I took his quotes and actions to heart and have always believed that “Farm families and blue-collar workers” were the backbone of traditional funeral service.  Of course, in our community they were also the back-bone of the churches and school boards . . . . . . and they believed in the traditions and mores of traditional funeral services.

Here’s an interesting graphic (below) that shows the manufacturing losses in America since what I would call the “Globalization of Manufacturing”.  Maybe it is just coincidental, but the dates of loss of these blue-collar workers somewhat corresponds with the percentage increases in cremation related services in America.

This next graphic (below) shows that America’s Middle Income (Blue-Collar) people have dropped from having an aggregate of 62% of the income in 1970 to only 43% of the income today.  And, as you can see Upper Income Americans now control about 48% of all income — up from about 29% in 1970.  And, the Lower Income tier has stayed relatively stable over the past 50 years.

So, my historic take is, the backbone of traditional funeral service was making, in relative terms, less money while the cost of traditional funeral services was going up.  It should be no surprise that low-cost cremation demand also went up over those years.  I don’t think it should come as any surprise that one traditional funeral home company that has catered to the “cost-conscious” traditional funeral consumer over the years, Newcomer Funeral Group, has seemingly done very well by doing so.

I was also moved during this exercise to find out what do companies appeal to when they “chase the affluent consumer” audience?  I found this short article and lengthier white-paper from Mastercard titled “Reaching new heights:  Understanding the nuances and potential of affluent consumers in a changing market”.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

I didn’t read the white-paper but did notice one of the nuances of affluent consumers is that  the affluent consumer likes “new and innovative products”.  The article goes on to state “This influential audience presents unparalleled opportunities for brands ready to adapt and innovate.”

When I go back in history and look at the rise in cremation I would argue that cremation in America was “innovative” in the 1960’s and 1970’s which may be one reason it was adopted by the affluent early on and that the relative financial strength loss of the middle income in the years following (coupled with the increased prices of traditional funerals) both had something to do with the increased level of cremation over the past 4-5 decades.

While many traditional funeral homes fought cremation, there were some really innovative firms that saw the “cremation innovation” and went full-scale into the process.  Many even changed their brand by taking out the words “funeral home” and inserting “cremation”.  Over time, some of the firms that saw the wave and re-branded are some of the largest volume firms in the country today.

Thinking about the future —  If these hypotheses are in any way somewhat correct one would suggest that a company with an innovative Death Care product, such as alkaline hydroysis or natural organic reduction should be looking for the “early adopters” among the affluent members of society.

With Mastercard’s theory that the affluent “like innovation” one would suggest that innovative Death Care companies, and this would include after-market cremation products like Better Place Forests and Parting Stone, would find the most success in affluent zip-code areas.

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As of July 1, 2025, Natural Organic Reduction, or Terramation as some call it, became a legal form of disposition in the state of Minnesota.  According to information that I believe reliable, Minnesota was the 11th state to pass legislation permitting such and the 13th state to activate the process.  The process of Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) or Terramation is labeled by many as “human composting”.

On the same day that NOR was legal in Minnesota, Washington state provider of such services Return Home issued this press release stating that they will be expanding to Minnesota.  Return Home, you can access their website here,  also announced that they will open a new facility in Minnesota for the process and also made this statement in their press release, “The expansion marks a significant step forward in Return Home’s mission to bring gentle, sustainable death care to communities across the country. With Minnesota’s progressive values, cultural richness, and long-standing environmental leadership, the state is a natural fit for terramation—a process that gently transforms human remains into soil.” 

Up until now and until a facility is built in Minnesota, Minnesotans who have wanted to have NOR/Terramation as their method of human disposition have had to work with local funeral homes and have their remains shipped to the state of Washington to implement the process.  One Minnesota funeral provider, Mueller Mortuary, has implemented a division for what they term “Green Burial Services and Options” which includes “Composting” as one of the options.

That division is called “Interra Green Burial by Mueller Mortuary” and their website can be accessed by clicking here.

Related Information —  Here is a recent notice from the Minnesota Funeral Director’s Association concerning the implementation of NOR as an alternative human disposition method.

Related Information —  Here is a video news story and print article from NBC Palm Springs (CA) about the Minnesota law and Return Home.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  According to the Cremation Association of North America, the cremation rate in Minnesota during the calendar year 2022 was 72.7% compared to a national average for that year of 59%.  According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the cremation rate in Minnesota in 1982 was 7.6% and in 1961 — 64 years ago — it was 1.8%.

I give you those statistics to show you how fast things can change.  I live in Minnesota and I was a practicing funeral director during the swift percentage run-up on cremation over the past 40 years.  Minnesotans are “open minded” and willing to try new things. . . . That may be one reason that Return Home decided to invest in their 2nd facility in the state.

As a funeral director, I can remember traditional casketed funeral families decision making processes on selecting cremation.  One of the factors in the process of going to a high percentage cremation rate was that once a family chose cremation as the human disposition for the first member of the family unit, there was generally no going back to traditional casketed burials for the family with future deaths.

I wonder if that might be the same situation with those that opt in for NOR?

Finally — It was Katrina Spade, who you can learn about here, who pioneered the process and business of Natural Organic Reduction.  She is involved with her own NOR business/funeral home in the state of Washington.  I’ve told people this before and I still believe that it could be true.  The process of “human composting” seems to resonate with people I talk to.

Cremation choice went from 1.8% of the populace in Minnesota in 1961 to  70% roughly 60 years later.  Could the same happen with NOR over the next century?  If it does and Death Care disposition decisions are changed that drastically, one hundred years from now when people read about the most influential people in the world during the 21st Century, Katrina Spade could well be in that discussion.

Here is the Recompose website.

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It hit me the other day while I was in the process of reading a new book, “Meeting the Moment”.  It’s a story of how six United States Presidents “met the moment” and “Inspired Presidential Leadership that transformed America”.  

It’s also probably an odd place to get insight and inspiration for putting down a continuing change in American death care choices.  However, when I read of the scene that President Abraham Lincoln viewed as he arrived in Gettysburg for the famous Gettysburg Address on November 18, 1863, (the address, to dedicate the cemetery at Gettysburg, was presented on November 19) it struck me how trends slowly move forward and many times become societal mores over time.

According to the book, here’s what President Lincoln saw when his train pulled into Gettysburg, “. . .he couldn’t escape the solemness of the occasion, as spread out across the train platform were hundreds of coffins set for reburial, a reminder of the great human cost and sacrifice exhibited in this small community only months earlier.”

You see, embalming was something pretty new in 1863.  Up until that time it was mainly done in the United States for anatomical and medical study.  However, some say that under President Lincoln’s direction, embalmers were sent into the field to preserve deceased Union soldiers so they could be brought back to their home areas for burial.

Those coffins on the Gettysburg railroad platform were most likely intended for the eventual transport of Union soldiers back to their home community.  They were more than likely to be used for Union soldiers who lost their lives at Gettysburg and had been identified, embalmed, and eventually would be casketed (or put in coffins) for their trip home.

Up until that time in America, deceased citizens were hastily buried with no preservation. . . a preservation that eventually allowed for family visitations.

That change, to embalming for preservation, that is evident at Gettysburg is what probably started the movement that grew into the business of the modern American funeral home.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

It wasn’t long after that that the care of death in America became a profession and industry. . . and, it can probably all be traced back to the embalming of the body for preservation.  It sprouted embalming classes (my grandfather attended one in 1905), it sprouted the business of wholesale caskets (Batesville Casket was launched in 1884), and it was also in that time period that businesses dedicated to the soul purpose of taking care of the deceased were launched.  . . . . many funeral firms that date back farther than that date in the U.S. can trace their history to cabinet of furniture making and later morphing into the funeral business.

There is no doubt that the embalming for the preservation of the deceased lead to the building of “funeral homes” and businesses all across America.  And, for over 150 years, even with the advent of cremation as an alternative human disposition option, funeral homes have thrived.

However, things do change over time. . . .and America now is a nation in which only about 35-50% of all deceased are embalmed.  Direct cremation with no viewing prior to the cremation has led to that change. . . . .

And I think what we are now seeing in the small growth of other forms of human disposition will over time continue that movement.  There is no doubt that the American public has a desire for other options at this time and, in my book, that is or will become, the biggest driver of how American death care vendors will operate their businesses in the next 50 to 75 years.

According to this article, alkaline hydrolysis, or water cremation as it is termed, is legal in 28 states and, according to this article, natural organic reduction, or human composting as it is termed, is legal in 11 states.  And, both options are expected to grow legally as state legislatures convene in 2025.

Movements like this happen slowly, but once they pick up steam they are hard to stop.  I think that is the case with the growing human disposition options in America.  You know that they are somewhat reaching a mainstream of thought when America’s largest death care purveyor begins offering the options. . . . . This press release (which is already a year and a half old) from Service Corporation International tells of them doing just that.

Here’s what SCI Seattle Market Director at the time Keith Baumgardner said, “Our client families have been asking for different options to inter their loved one.  Human composting is a new way of returning our bodies to the earth.”

There are a lot of other issues happening in the greater death care world, but if I had to pick one issue or trend that I see materializing and affecting the way death care providers serve their clientele in the next 50 years it will be the continued legality and interest in these newer methods of human disposition.

Who knows when fully implemented and legal in the United States what percentage of deaths will use these methods. . . . I don’t think, at least for the foreseeable future, either of them will top cremation as the disposition of choice.  However, I’m pretty certain that both alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reduction will continue to have some upward movement in the numbers and percentage of people who choose those methods. . . . and as they gain popularity funeral homes will have to find a way to put them into their menu of service options.

Related—“A Sacred Event:  Why interest is growing in natural burials.”  San Antonio Express-News (TX)

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In late September we learned that The Natural Funeral of Lafayette, Colorado, was launching a program in which existing funeral homes can purchase what the company calls “Chrysalis” vessels for use at their own funeral homes or other facilities.  The “Chrysalis” vessels are used for the human disposition process of Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) that has now been legalized in several states.

The “Chrysalis” vessels are, at this point in time, intended to be available to those funeral homes in states whose laws allow such dispositions.

The Natural Funeral calls their NOR process “terramation” and, according to CEO Mike Reagan are “extending the reach of terramation services” to other areas of the country.  Here’s what Reagan said in prepared statements from a recent press release, “By introducing the TerraCare Partner Program™, we are not only expanding the reach of terramation services but also enhancing the capacity of funeral service providers to meet a critical and growing demand for sustainable end-of-life options.  This program is a testament to our commitment to innovation and leadership in the funeral industry, ensuring that our partners can offer services that truly reflect the ecological values of the communities they serve.”

You can learn more about this partner program by clicking here to get to The Natural Funeral website.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I recently read an article that mentioned that Natural Organic Reduction is now legal in 12 states.  The same article said, however, that the process is only being done in Colorado and Washington because those are the only states with licensed facilities at this time.

I also think it is important to know, that according to this information from Dignity Memorial, which is a Service Corporation  International (SCI) company, that they mention 13 more states where legislation is being “considered”.  Adding those 13 states would make NOR legal in a full one-half of all states in the United States.

I’ve been somewhat taken aback by how this momentum for NOR seems to be growing.  And, while it is certainly too early to proclaim the process the next big thing in Death Care, there does seem to be a lot of interest by the consumer public in the process.

I’m reminded of “early adopters”.  That’s those people who are willing to jump on an idea before the idea becomes mainstream.  I’ve lived my lifetime in a period where it was first desktop computers that people were wary about, and then the internet, and finally, cell phones. . . . . .. All of those products had “early adopters” of the product and business people who believed in the process before they became mainstream.

And then, on the other side of the equation, there are those products that looked like they were headed for great success and for some reason, were overhyped and fizzled. . . . .Think about Napster, Google Glass, and Betamax.  Here’s an article from Time that I found about those failures.

So, at this point in time, you are probably on one side or the other of the Natural Organic Reduction movement.  It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.  Will it have “staying power” like flame cremation had when it was introduced to America in the 1950’s-1960’s or will NOR be hyped and then go away?

I think there are a lot of smart people betting that it is here to stay.

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Fifty years ago services were almost all traditional casketed funerals with earth burials.  Then, for the next 50 years cremation choice by the consumer started building until we now have an approximate 60% cremation rate of disposition across the United States.

So, what is next?  Consumers have started adding eco-friendly options to their choice of disposition.  There are “green funerals”, natural organic reduction, and alkaline hydrolysis to choose from now.  I think we are beginning to enter the days of the “niche disposition”.

By that, even while flame cremation continues to grow percentage wise, I think that each of those eco-friendly options will also grow and at some point in time flame cremation will reach its percentage plateau and all other forms of disposition will continue to grow percentage wise, knocking some percentage off of the flame-cremation lead. . . . . When that happens, we will truly be in a “niche” disposition line of business.

The question then becomes. . . . “How will your funeral home service the different disposition methods available?”  Will you make the investment necessary to provide for an alkaline hydrolysis system and natural organic reduction system in your current business? . . . . Or, might you look to partner with others who have those dispositions already in place?

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

I recently saw this press release and investigated further to learn that Van Orsdel Funeral & Cremation Services located in southeast Florida has partnered with Florida’s Gentle Water Cremation of West Palm Beach to offer alkaline hydroysis services to clientele who may prefer that disposition method.

From my point of view, it is one way a funeral home can enter this “niche” disposition business without the investment in their own facility.  It’s not unlike the early days of flame cremation where many smaller funeral homes used trade cremation businesses until their own numbers were high enough to justifiy an investment in their own cremation equipment.

And, by directly advertising that your firm can accommodate those who wish alkaline hydrolysis or “water cremation” before others do so, you are potentially building up your expertise in the “niche” faster than your competitors.  Again, in my way of thinking, it is a great way to gauge the market and get a jump on the competition for this form of disposition without adding an alkaline hydrolysis equipment investment at the present time.

Especially with what I expect to be growing trends in alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reduction, now might be the best time to put a plan in place on how your firm will handle these services for clientele who prefer them.

Here is the website of Van Orsdel Funerals and Cremation Services

Here is the website of Gentle Waters Cremation (Alkaline hydrolysis)

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