The Accredited Certifiers Association, Inc., (ACA) has adopted a new membership structure that welcomes members of the organic community to join and support the work of the ACA (accreditedcertifiers.org). Membership is now open to the general public in the form of a “Supporting Members” who receive the ACA Guidewire, newsletter of the ACA, and news updates. In addition, supporting members may attend ACA functions at member rates.

Ciranda, Inc. is proud to announce that organic pioneer Eckhart Kiesel has joined the WI-based organic food ingredient company as Vice President of Business Development (ciranda.com). Eckhart brings over 20 years international experience working with organic farming, processing and distribution, most recently as president of Rapunzel Pure Organics USA.

SPINS, the leading provider of information in the natural products industry, ranked Endangered Species Chocolate (ESC) number one for natural chocolate in all seven individual U.S. regions (chocolatebar.com). ESC’s growth rate in those regions ranges anywhere from 25% to 65%.

Nature’s Path Foods’ organic program manager, Dag Falck, was recently appointed to the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) board of directors (naturespath.com).

California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) has announced that Jake Lewin will step in as interim certification services director to head CCOF’s organic certification program (ccof.org).

TIC Gums, a manufacturer of organic hydrocolloids, has announced changes to its upper management staff (ticgums.com). Scott Riefer will now serve as vice president of science and technology; Greg Andon, has been named president of TIC Gums; and Libby Haven, has been promoted to the role of vice president of operations.


Synergy Company, a grower, processor and manufacturer of organic, whole-food raw materials and nutritional supplements, has added several key employees (synergyproduction.com). Steven Lattey was named director of raw materials for Synergy Production Laboratories; Tim Harkwright was appointed director of quality assurance; and Ellen Schutt was named director of marketing.

Horizon Organic dairy brand has welcomed 27 additional certified organic farms in 2006 to its rapidly growing network of organic family farmer partners (horizonorganic.com). Horizon Organic’s network of family farmers now totals 342.

Horizon Organic has also recently partnered with Panera Bread bakery-cafes to introduce the new Panera Kids menu. Panera Kids represents the first kids’ fare introduced by a national restaurant that provides organic and all-natural offerings. Horizon Organic items include American cheese, yogurt tubes and single-serve milk.

Ellen P Holton has been appointed to the new position of national sales manager for NSF International’s corporate retail programs (nsf.org). Holton, an Organic Processing Magazine editorial board member, was most recently sales and marketing director for organic certification agency Quality Assurance International, an NSF International company.

The International Social and Environmental Labeling Alliance (ISEAL) has declared that the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) is fully compliant with ISEAL’s Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards, and is the first ISEAL member to achieve this status (isealalliance.org; ifoam.org).

D.D. Williamson, maker of organic caramel color, announced that Margaret A. Lawson will become vice president, science and innovation (ddwilliamson.com). Lawson served as the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) president in 2005.

Aaron Skyberg of SK Food International has been elected to the Soyfoods Association of North America (SANA) board of directors (skfood.com). Board member responsibilities include providing input on policy decision, and serving on a SANA committee. At SK Foods, Skyberg provides sales and marketing support relating to organic and conventional non-GMO agricultural commodities.

Chuck Marble has been named executive vice president of Weetabix North America, the newly-consolidated group including Barbara’s Bakery, The Weetabix Co., and Weetabix of Canada Limited (BarbarasBakery.com). Marble will oversee the continued growth of Barbara’s Bakery, the 35 year-old health food and organic pioneer.

Massimo Zanetti Beverage, USA’s coffee manufacturing facility in Suffolk, VA has been certified to produce/run organic coffees by Quality Assurance International (QAI) (mzb-usa.com; qai-inc.com). 

United Naturals Food (UNFI), distributor to the natural and organic industry, has joined Vitamin Angel Alliance’s (VAA) Honduras Multivitamin program, which addresses chronic malnutrition and vitamin deficiency diseases in 30,000 children in rural Honduras (unfi.com; vitaminangel.org). The campaign will provide the children with daily multivitamins and anti-parasitic medicine along with an educational program to address these problems.

Aurora Organic Dairy recently completed the rigorous Animal Welfare Review certification process from Validus Services (auroraorganic.com). Aurora Organic Dairy, to date, is the only organic dairy in the nation to achieve this recognized animal welfare certification.