The Organic Center Announces New Fundraising Program Featuring the Artwork of Jerry Garcia
“The Jerry Art Project” was developed to fund The Organic Center’s outreach programs and its mission to generate credible, peer-reviewed scientific research that proves the benefits of organic farming and products. Over the next three years, the Center will offer five series of high-quality Giclee prints featuring the artwork of Jerry Garcia, with four to six prints per series. The Jerry Art Project has been made possible by the generosity of filmmaker and Garcia’s widow, Deborah Koons Garcia. The first series of prints, “In the Garden,” is now available through The Organic Center’s website and includes five prints, each priced at $250, or $1,000 for the full series.


Be a Part of the Action as Issues Are Brought to Congress
Make plans to attend OTA’s Policy Conference Reception at Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on Hill Visit Day, Feb. 27 and 28, 2008. This annual event provides opportunities for policy education and for lobbying on behalf of industry concerns. At the policy conference, key members of congressional offices and USDA regulatory departments will give updates. OTA will then provide education, training and mentoring, as members break into small groups and head to Congress for a day of lobbying. Email tcallahan@ota.com for further details.


New Study: The Many Faces of Organic 2008
The Hartman Group recently announced the development of “The Many Faces of Organic 2008,” a comprehensive report on consumer perceptions, motivations and behaviors driving the organic marketplace. Areas of examination include the current consumer meaning of “organic” and the value of USDA certification and symbols, organic lifestyle drivers and usage, organic at the intersection of other product attributes (i.e., ethnic, gourmet, local, etc.), the role of packaging, advertising media, narratives, and imagery as well as insight on other organic products, besides foods, that consumers are adopting. The study will be fielded the first quarter of 2008 with results by the second quarter of 2008. For more information visit www.hartman-group.com.

Organic Awareness Campaign Wins Pro Award
Go Organic! for Earth Day, a project of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and MusicMatters took second place in PROMO Magazine’s 2007 PRO Awards. The project surpassed other well-known national campaigns, including Wal-Mart, DreamWorks, United States Postal Service and e-Bay. The Go Organic! for Earth Day campaign is aimed at increasing sales and awareness of organic products by providing consumers with valuable savings on organic products in grocery stores, as well as information on the benefits of organic.

Since the project was founded in 2004 by the OTA and MusicMatters, more than 3,500 grocery stores and 40 leading organic manufacturers across the nation have come together each year to take part in the campaign. According to SPINS, retailers that sold Go Organic!-sponsored products during the April 2007 campaign period generated 10.6 times more in sales compared to retailers that did not participate in the program. In its first two years, the campaign raised national awareness of organic products by 8 percent, which translates to more than 25 million consumers, according to The Natural Marketing Institute.

Each year the Go Organic! for Earth Day campaign is underwritten by leading organic brands such as CLIF Bar & Co., Del Monte Organics, Earthbound Farm, Horizon Organic, Maranatha, Nature’s Path Foods, Organic Valley Family of Farms R.W. Knudsen Family, Santa Cruz Organic, Silk Soymilk and Stonyfield Farm. For information about participating in the campaign contact MusicMatters at (952) 426-7800 or visit www.OrganicEarthDay.org.

Special Report:
Organic Cotton Market Valued at $1.9 Billion in 2007
According to the “Organic Exchange Organic Cotton Market Report 2007,” global retail sales for organic cotton products increased 85 percent to $1.1 billion in 2006, up from $583 million in 2005, and is projected to increase 83 percent to $1.9 billion by the end of 2007. Organic Exchange (OE) projects the market will increase to $3.5 billion in 2008, $4.5 billion in 2009 and $6.8 billion in 2010. The five companies using the most organic cotton in 2006 were Wal-Mart, Nike, Coop Switzerland, Patagonia and Germany-based Otto. Woolworths South Africa and C&A have recently introduced large programs and OE expects the companies to make the top five list in 2007.

Reasons for the organic cotton market growth include strong consumer demand for apparel, home textile and personal care products containing organic fibers as well as expansion of organic cotton programs by companies that have been in the organic market for several years such as EDUN, Gaiam, Hanna Andersson, H&M, howies, Levi Strauss & Co., Loomstate, Marks & Spencer, Nordstrom, prAna, Under the Canopy and Woolworths South Africa. Sales growth will be further driven by entrance into the organic cotton market by major brands and retailers including Barneys, C&A, Next, Pottery Barn, Stella McCartney and Target.

“A fundamental shift in consumer buying patterns in the apparel, home textiles and personal care markets is happening as more products made from organic cotton and other organic fibers are becoming available to consumers,” said Rebecca Calahan Klein, OE program director and author of the report.


Klein found that organic cotton apparel has become more fashion-forward, with a wider variety of products across product categories. Apparel represented 85 percent of total market demand in 2006, with home textiles (bedding and towels) amounting to 10 percent and personal care products 5 percent.

Other trends include increased use of other organic fibers in addition to cotton, such as organic wool, linen and even leather; and certification to standards such as the Global Organic Textile Standard(GOTS) and Oeko-Tex processing standards, as well as fair trade. In addition, expanded use of the Organic Exchange Online Tracking Service, enables companies and consumers alike to track the fiber in a product back to a particular field or animal.

The report’s data describing an increased organic cotton marketplace reflects the increasing organic fiber production data reported in the organization’s September 2007 “Organic Exchange Organic Farm and Fiber Report.” That report showed that the amount of organic cotton produced globally increased 53 percent from 2005/06 to 2006/07. According to the report, 57,931 metric tons, or 265,517 bales, were produced in 24 countries on all arable continents. The top ten organic cotton producing countries were: Turkey, India, China, Syria, Peru, the United States, Uganda, Tanzania, Israel and Pakistan. Nearly half of the organic cotton was grown in the Middle East, while approximately one-third of organic cotton was grown in Southeast Asia.

Organic Exchange (www.organicexchange.org) facilitates expansion of the global organic cotton fiber supply by working with farmers, leading brands and retailers and their business partners to develop organic cotton programs.


Organic Coffee Sales Are Hot
U.S. retail sales of organic coffee in 2006 increased more than 24 percent, according to the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA’s) “2007 Organic Manufacturer Survey.” Another recent study from the Sustainable Markets Intelligence Center (CIMS) estimated that approximately 65 million pounds of organic coffee were imported into the United States in 2006 (which equals approximately $572 million). The authors estimate the budding organic coffee sector represents 2.5 percent of the total U.S. coffee market. While still a small number, the double digit annual average growth rate documented by the researchers between 2000 and 2006 dwarfs the estimated 1.5 to 2 percent projected annual growth rate of the conventional coffee industry. Companies participating in the Organic Coffee Collaboration, a project of the Organic Trade Association, have launched many media and consumer awareness campaigns to support this growth. The Collaboration includes Café Bom Dia, Dallis Coffee, DaSilva, Elan, Equal Exchange, F. Gaviña & Sons, Fresh Harvest Products, Green Mountain and Swiss Water. For more information on the Organic Coffee Collaboration, see: http://www.ota.com/organic_and_you/coffee_collaboration.html