Organic Acreage Continues to Surge
According to recent data from The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), and the Foundation Ecology & Farming (SOEL), currently more than 31 million hectares of farmland are under organic management worldwide, a gain of around five million hectares in a single year. A major increase of organic land has taken place in China, where nearly three million hectares of pastoral land were recently certified.

Excluding wild collection, Australia leads the pack with 12.1 million hectares, followed by China (3.5 million hectares) and Argentina (2.8 million hectares). Most of the world’s organic land is in Australia/Oceania (39%), followed by Europe (21%), Latin America (20%), Asia (13%), North America (4%) and Africa (3%).

Regarding the share of organic farmland in comparison with the total agricultural area, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries lead the way. In Switzerland, for example, more than ten percent of the agricultural land is managed organically.


Investors Challenge Dean Foods’ Organic Practices
Socially concerned investors have filed a shareholder proposal asking Dean Foods to report to shareholders how it is responding to concerns that industrial-scale organic dairies, supplying milk for its Horizon brand, violate consumer trust, seriously jeopardizing share value.

The shareholder proposal is a by-product of a five-year debate in the organic industry over the introduction of large-scale factory-style dairy farms, milking as many as 5,000 cows each. It is the contention of a growing number of public interest, environmental, and farming groups that some of these farms are violating current USDA regulations by labeling their products as organic.

Last year, The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy group, filed formal complaints with the USDA against three industrial dairies, including allegations that these farms were violating the law by confining their cattle to feedlots and sheds rather than grazing as the organic regulations require. The dairy farms in question include one owned by Dean Foods in Idaho and another California farm shipping milk for distribution under the Horizon label.

The resolution asks the company to appoint an independent committee of the board to review its policies and procedures for sourcing raw milk for its organic dairy products, and whether its policies and procedures promote the spirit as well as the letter of the official rules defining organic dairy products. The investor groups also want to know how the company intends to respond to increasing consumer and media criticism, and whether a proposed $10 million investment in an additional large-scale dairy farm will mitigate or exacerbate the criticism.


US Consumers Behind on Organics
U.S. consumers are among the least likely shoppers from around the world to regularly purchase organic food and beverage products, according to a new online global survey from ACNielsen, the world’s leading provider of consumer and marketplace information. Asked about their purchasing of organic alternatives from 11 food and beverage categories, just 6 to 15 percent of U.S. consumers said they purchase such products regularly – well short of the average among consumers from all 38 markets included in the study.


Organic Drinks Make a Splash
Organic beverages and new-age non-dairy drinks have transitioned from specialty to mainstream with sales now topping $1.1 billion. Growth is 14.1 percent year to year as reported by SPINS. Organic dairy beverages are the most popular category with $263.6 million in sales. Non-dairy drinks were $213.7 million and organic teas are surging at $131.8 million. Non-refrigerated juices and functional drinks earned $102 million and organic refrigerated juices and functional beverages brought $66.3 million. The top five organic beverages make up about 70 percent of the total category.

David Neuman, VP of sales and marketing at Nature’s Path Foods, has been appointed as vice chair of the Whole Grains Council (www.naturespath.com). Nature’s Path Foods is also a founding member of the council that has grown to 78 members since July 2003.

John DePaolis, head marketing guy for Country Choice Organic has been named to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture 14-member task force whose mission is to provide recommendations about efforts to support Minnesota’s growing organic agriculture industry (www.countrychoiceorganics.com).

Country Choice Organic also announced the addition of Jocelyne Gregg to the position of east coast regional manager.

Brad Rush, who oversees the Briess Malt & Ingredients Company certified organic ingredient program, was recently certified as an inspector by the Independent Organic Inspectors Association (www.briess.com).
Briess also announced that Bob O’Connell has been named vice president, sales and marketing.

Mastertaste Inc. has appointed Lynn Brown to senior account manager for its Flavors Division and Chris Long as general manager of its Sweet Flavors team (www.mastertaste.com).

A team from Endangered Species Chocolate (ESC) went Nigeria in February to document ethically traded farming practices in the villages where ESC sources the cacao (www.chocolatebar.com). While they were there, the ESC team dedicated water pumps and educational materials to the villages near the farms.

D.D. Williamson has named Kevin Folkes vice president in charge of global sales (www.ddwilliamson.com). He joins the global operating team in Louisville, Kentucky, and has management responsibility for all sales managers around the world.

Herb Trade has just completed construction of it’s second warehouse, now giving it a total of 40,000-square-feet devoted to the storage, production and microbiological testing of its over 150 organic products (www.organicherbtrade.com).

Main Street Ingredients has hired Joe Kretschmer as account manager in the Food Ingredient Group (www.mainstreetingredients.com). Kretschmer will be responsible for selling Main Street’s line of food ingredients and services in the western United States.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) announced the receipt of $220,000 from Newman’s Own Organics and Paul Newman Charitable Giving (www.ofrf.org). “This is the largest single contribution OFRF has received in our fifteen year history,” stated Bob Scowcroft, OFRF’s Executive Director. The funds will broadly support all aspects of OFRF’s work.

IFOAM has announced the formation of an International Forum of Certification Bodies, the first meeting of which took place on February 15th in Nuremberg, Germany, in conjunction with BioFach organic trade fair (www.ifoam.org). Seventy-four participants from 53 certification bodies and 35 countries participated to enhance cooperation among organic certification bodies and ensure continuous improvement of the worldwide organic system.

LeAnn Hovdenes has joined SK Food International’s marketing department (www.skfood.com). Hovdenes will be responsible for providing sales and marketing support in all areas relating to Identity Preserved ingredients, including certified organic and conventional Non-GMO agricultural commodities.

Main Street Ingredients has also opened a new Research and Development Center in part of a new 40,000-square-foot addition to its manufacturing facility and has invested in a pilot scale, state-of-the-art continuous ice cream freezer.

Oregon Chai founder, Heather Howitt has joined Living Harvest as a board chair (www.livingharvest.com). Howitt will be involved in all growth aspects of the Living Harvest business.

My Family Farm will sponsor several Mother’s Day parades across the nation held by the non-profit organization, Mothers Acting Up (MAU) (www.myfamilyfarm.org).

Wal-Mart Stores expects to double its organic offerings this spring (www.walmart.com). DeDe Priest, senior vice president of dry grocery, said the retailer is not becoming a health food store, but wants to make organic food accessible to all.