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standpoint, says Matt Seeley, chief executive of the Organics Produce Network, based in Monterey, CA. “Therefore, organic growers look to provide consistent ongoing supply, whether it’s growing or sourcing in different areas of the United States based on the season or lining up import partners to cover times of the year where availability in the United States is low or none.”
Addie Pobst, organic integrity and food safety coordinator at Viva Tierra Organic, in Mount Vernon, WA, agrees. “We source organic apples and pears for half the year from California and the Pacific Northwest and the other half we import from Chile and Argentina, to get a regular supply.”
Greg Holzman, founder and chief execu- tive of San Francisco-based Pacific Organic Produce and Purity Organics brand juices, started importing organic grapes into the United States this winter from Peru. Histor- ically, sourcing organic grapes in the first few months of the year has proved challenging because those from Chile, the main supplier to the U.S. at this time, must be fumigated. No fumigation is required for Peruvian grapes.
“There will continue to be a demand for organic imports to fill in supply demand that domestic production can’t fill alone,” says Van Argiros, director of produce procurement for Albert’s Fresh Produce, in Santa Cruz, CA.
There’s more variety, as well as volume, available in organic produce.
“Every year we see new items in the organic stream such as papaya and haba- nero chilies, as well as holes in supply filled for items like asparagus and artichokes,” says New Seasons Markets’ Fairchild.
The largest jumps in organic sales of specialty produce include ginger, mangos and lemons, according to Robert Schueller, director of public relations at Vernon, CA-headquar- tered Melissa’s/World Variety produce, which sells more than 400 organic SKUs. “In partic- ular, we’ve seen huge gains in organic ginger, especially with almost year-round availability.”
In the end, because of factors such as efficient organic agricultural practices, ever- growing economies of scale and greater supply to meet demand, the organic premium in general is narrowing and in some cases non-existent. For example, Clementines, lemons, mangos, beets, cucumbers and Romaine lettuce were advertised from 23 to 54 percent lower than the price of conven- tional at major retail supermarkets during the week of January 19-25, 2018, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Weekly Retail Organic Price Compar-
ison. Meanwhile, the organic premium ranged from 0 to 7 percent for Navel and Valencia oranges, Boston and Romaine lettuce, orange and yellow bell peppers and round red-skinned potatoes during the same week.
However, the largest gaps at 100 to 300-plus-percent in price than conventional included Red Delicious and Fuji apples, Brus- sels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, collard greens, iceberg lettuce, jalapeno and serrano peppers, mixed salad, baby spinach, tomatoes, yellow onions and Russet potatoes, for this same week.
“It really does depend on the commodity,” says Ben Johnson, president of Bridges Organic Produce, in Portland, OR. “There will be periods of scarcity when organics will be double or triple the cost of conventional, and other times we find ourselves in a supply-exceeds-de- mand situation, and there is virtually no price difference or the organic is actually cheaper.”
That said, Johnson adds, “the trend toward lower FOB prices or organic may not translate to retail. Category price management and FOB pricing do not necessarily correlate.” pb
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