What You Need to Know About Sourcing Organic Ingredients

By Sarh Fister Gale


Sourcing raw organic ingredients is a delicate balance of forecasting demand and securing supply, but maintaining access to quantity is only half the battle. To achieve the ongoing requirements of an organic product formula, processors must also make sure every batch of ingredients meets the same quality standards or the product consistency will falter.

It’s not enough to get 1,000 lbs. of barley or beef or basil. Each batch of ingredients must have the same consistency of flavor, texture, color, blending consistency and nutrients that every previous batch had. If not, the formula changes and the product loses integrity.

Sourcing raw ingredients in the organic industry can be trickier than for conventional foods because quantities are often limited, and if processors don’t plan ahead, they may find themselves buying multiple batches of ingredients from several different sources. They also have to be vigilant about testing for pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and bacteria counts that can impact the food safety processes for the facility, and are limited in their options for cleaning and sanitizing ingredients.

Every kind of raw ingredient has its own set of sourcing challenges. The trick is to either put in place demonstrable oversight procedures to ensure consistency from producers, or to work with a reputable supplier whose proven track record for quality and excellence ensures that each batch of ingredients purchased meets all taste, texture and tracking expectations.

A Grain of Truth About Sourcing
“Some people will tell you corn is corn or wheat is wheat no matter where it comes from,” says Lynn Clarkson, president of Clarkson Grain, a supplier of conventional and organic grains, oilseeds and ingredients for food and feed. “It’s a myth. There are hundreds of varieties of grains and they all have different traits, textures and tastes.”

In corn alone, notes Clarkson, there are variations in water absorption rates, levels of starch, cooking time and amounts of protein in every kernel. “All of those characteristics impact the formula,” he says. The greatest determiner of how corn will impact taste, texture, and time to process is genetics. Gene-tics determine 75 percent of the variability of corn. Other factors that have lesser impact include soil, fertilizer, climate and the environment in which it’s grown and harvested.

Many processors assume that if they are buying graded commodity corn they are getting a good quality product and they don’t need to do any further research, but it’s not enough. Graded commodity corn doesn’t tell you anything about the traits of the corn, and worse, it’s likely a blend of 30 to 40 hybrids. “When you blend hybrids you can never get the same batch twice,” he points out, “and working with a mix impacts processing.”

The variation in breeds can change the final product’s color, taste and density, and it can add hidden expenses to the production process. For example, if you are making tortillas and half of your processing time is spent steeping the corn, by using a blend of hybrids, you can end up with half the kernels fully steeped while others have barely begun due to the uneven absorption rates of different corn varieties. The complete steeping process could add hours to the process and by the time the toughest kernels are steeped, the others may be waterlogged. “By choosing a single hybrid known for fast water absorption, you could cut your steeping time in half and get a better product,” Clarkson says.

To avoid these kinds of problems, Clarkson encourages processors to work with their formulators or third-party food technologists to identify the specific grain hybrid that meets the needs of the formula, and to limit their choices to a few varieties. Factors to consider along with water absorption rates include: how well the grain blends with other ingredients, the nutrient requirements, and the color, texture and flavor it adds to the product.

Once you’ve identified two or three ideal hybrids, choose one and if possible, contract with a single supplier for 125 percent of all of your projected annual need. This covers any unanticipated additional need if the product line expands, and if there is surplus at the end of the year it can be resold on the market. If you can’t get a single hybrid, Clarkson suggests using the two or three hybrids in calendar sequence—use the first hybrid until it runs out then switch to the next. That way you have the fewest changes in the product over the course of the year, and you aren’t adding the complexities of a mixed-grain formula to your process.

Once you’ve contracted for grain, you may want to test the seeds for hybrid consistency, as well as the presence of GMOs and pesticide residue before you accept delivery. Smaller processors may rely on their suppliers to conduct this testing, and should require papers validating the tests have been performed successfully.

“In grains, GMO testing is a big deal, especially if you are selling products in Europe,” Clarkson notes. British grocery stores have a limit of one-tenth of one-percent GMO corn, and the EU has a nine-tenths of one percent rule. “If your seeds don’t meet these requirements, you won’t be able to sell the products in Europe,” he warns. “GMO levels won’t get any better from there, and they may get worse.”

If meeting GMO purity rules for corn is critical and processors are having trouble finding the levels they need to meet customers’ demands, Clarkson has a simple solution: buy white corn. As of today, there is no commercially available genetically modified white corn on the market, so you can reasonably assume that any white corn you buy is GMO free. Clarkson Grain uses an optical scanner machine to sort white corn from yellow, extracting yellow kernels from a white batch with a high-powered focused blower. “That’s as close to GMO-free as you can get,” he says.

Fortunately, for row crops such as corn, there is little fear of pesticide drift from other farms and many farmers add barrier strips of land between their crops and their neighbors to further isolate them from pesticides. “As long as your farmers are using organic processing techniques, pesticide residue isn’t a big concern,” he says. “And lot tests will confirm any batch of raw product meets pesticide limitations.”

The Meat of the Argument
Unlike grains, most people know that the taste, texture and quality of beef can vary dramatically, depending on the age, cut and breed of the cattle. But what they may not know is that genetics and feed have the biggest influence on the quality of the final product, says Scott Lively, CEO and chairman of Dakota Beef, the largest vertically-integrated, 100-percent certified organic beef producer in the U.S.

If processors are sourcing a lot of beef, Lively suggests they stick to the same genetic lineage for their beef cattle. “Ideally, you should identify four or five bulls and have them calf your entire herd,” he says. “That guarantees consistency.”

With genetics in place, adhering to a strict feeding protocol in which the cattle are fed the same amount and type of food at the same time every day, is critical to consistently getting the best quality out of the meat. Dakota Beef uses a custom feeding protocol designed by expert cow finishers for its beef cattle. The diet includes a combination of 8 to 10 lbs. of corn daily, along with high protein milled flour pellets, flaxseed, soy, oats and barley. “It’s a cost-effective formula that results in a great tasting, marbled, prime-grade meat,” he says. “And we can duplicate it at multiple locations.”

If you are working directly with ranchers to source your beef, get involved with the selection and care of the cattle, Lively says. His company qualifies its breeders and ranchers, taking ownership of the cattle from the time they are born in order to retain control over their upbringing, feeding and maintainence, which further ensures consistency and validity.

“Validating authenticity of beef is a big deal in the organic industry,” he says. “Anyone can show you a certification document, but the only way to be sure is to have a tight relationship with your producers.” Along with owning the cattle and dictating the feeding protocol, Dakota Beef insists that its rancher raise only cattle for its needs to avoid conflicting feeds or breed mixing.

If you are working with a supplier for beef, set the same expectations for control and quality that you would if you were dealing directly with the ranchers. Choose a supplier that has a small network of qualified breeders and handlers for the bulk of its beef to ensure consistency and quality. Then, working with the supplier, identify the breed and genetics that meet your taste and texture needs, and ask for validation with every lot purchased to prove the beef comes from the herd you’ve selected. Lively also suggests avoiding dairy breeds, because they don’t produce as good a quality meat as beef breeds, such as Red or Black Angus.

When you receive the beef, do random testing for hormones and antibiotics to be sure it meets your purity requirements, and do taste tests for overall taste and texture. “You want to be sure you are always getting the same quality and purity,” he says. “To do that, you have to stay involved.”

Consistency is the Spice of Life
Organic herbs and spices may be sourced in small quantities but they can have a big impact on the taste of your final product. Depending on the formulation, processing aids used and treatments applied to a further-processed product, a single spice can define a product’s flavor so consistency in this ingredient category is everything.

When sourcing organic spices, the challenge is ensuring that every batch is the highest quality, that it is consistent with every other batch used for this product, and that it meets your standards for food safety, says Mike Rachford, sales executive for Herb Trade, a premiere source of certified organic botanicals, herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables.

“If you want to confirm quality, insist on a certificate of analysis (COA) for the herbs and get a sample to test yourself,” Rachford says. The COA verifies that the lot has been tested and delivers microbiological counts for the presence of coliforms, yeast, mold, and foodborne illness-causing pathogens, such as Salmonella and E. coli. Clean product from the source is critical for the organic industry because many spices, such as parsley and chamomile, are delicate and can degrade when heat or steam sterilized, the most common way to kill bacteria. “When you prefer not to sterilize a product, sanitation standards are much more important.”

While every processor has different standards, Herb Trade follows the American Herbal Products Association’s recommended microbiological limits guidelines and sets the following general goals for counts on its COAs: total aerobic counts, <1 million colony forming units per gram (cfu/g); yeast and mold counts, <10,000 cfu; E. coli, <10 cfu/g, which is presumptive negative; and coliforms, <3,000 cfu/g. Any of these levels can vary substantially and sterilization may be an option depending on the final use of the product, Rachford adds. Salmonella counts must always be negative, which reflects the fact that nearly all importing countries have fixed the limit for Salmonella as absent in 25 g.

With assurances of sanitation in place through the COA, processors should also insist on a sample batch to test for taste, texture and aroma. “Even if you are working with a reliable supplier, don’t accept any batch of spices before you’ve had a chance to test the sample and are sure it meets your criteria,” he advises.

To ensure that every delivery will be acceptable, Rachford suggests processors use trusted sources for their herbs and spices through on-site visits, verifying that facilities are clean and well maintained. During these visits, check to see that the staff are following established organic processing and handling techniques and that the supplier has a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) program in place. He also encourages impromptu visits to ensure organic standards are being adhered to all the time, and proof that certifications are up to date.

Smaller processors may want to rely on a supplier to build these relationships if they don’t have the time or resources to conduct regular farm visits. This especially true if the processor is sourcing ingredients from multiple sources, or from countries that don’t have well-established organic standards in place. “If you are contracting with a farm directly, make the same demands that you would of a direct ingredient resource,” Rachford says. Expect to see a COA and proof of traceability back to the farm where the ingredient was grown, and be sure the grower adheres to the same standards of excellence that you embrace.

Whether you are using a supplier or going directly to the source, Rachford also suggests identifying one farm or region where the spice is produced and buying all product from that resource to ensure your spices are all grown under the same climate, farming and soil conditions. That will help ensure consistency of the flavor profile, which is critical for an ingredient that so strongly dictates the taste of an end product.

Once you’ve selected a specific spice, order as far in advance as possible to ensure the source will be available.

Organic Sugar: How Sweet It Is
“Organic certification does not guarantee the quality of food,” says Bruce Kirk, president of Corigins, a U.S.-based supplier of traceable natural, organic and fair trade ingredients, including sugar, cocoa and other sweeteners. “All organic is, is a guarantee that something has been grown, harvested and processed according to NOP standards.”

While organic certification is a guarantee that a product is free of pesticides, hormones and chemicals, the NOP regulation doesn’t cover food safety standards. That’s why Kirk encourages anyone sourcing raw organic ingredients to insist that their resources also have HACCP programs in place as proof that they are adhering to high standards for food safety. That includes standards such as having a fully enclosed facility for processing; the proper use of hair nets and masks; testing of critical control points; and ample, safe, climate-controlled storage for packaged product. “In South America, a lot of places do packaging outside,” he points out. “You have to pay attention to how a product is handled, not just from an organic standpoint, but from a safety standpoint.”

Corigins sends HACCP experts to its farms to help the suppliers put programs in place, and they conduct frequent visits and audits. “HACCP is a contributing factor for consistency and food grade. That’s important.”

To further ensure food safety, Kirk suggests insisting on product liability insurance for the supplier “because an insurance company won’t underwrite the product unless the producer has quality production procedures in place.”

Beyond food safety procedures, the quality of sugar, cocoa and other flavors can be affected by everything from planting and harvesting techniques, to soil conditions and seed quality. “Even if cocoa beans are grown in the same climate, variations in the way they are harvested and roasted will change their profile,” he says. And, every region’s unique growing conditions result in identifiable variations in taste, color and texture.

“The specs for these kinds of products should be on a very narrow bandwidth, yet a lot of importers have product specs that are so broad they won’t satisfy your needs,” he adds. To ensure consistency, choose a supplier that guarantees product specifications in a specific range. For example, if you are sourcing organic sugar, demand that its International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA) color range is limited to a variance of no more than 200 points. An ICUMSA rating is an international unit for expressing the purity of the sugar in solution, and is directly related to the color of the sugar. For example, demanding that your sugar has a rating between 300-and-500 ensures the color and purity throughout the batch will be consistent, whereas a rating of 300-to-1500 promises a wide range of grain sizes and colors. “A wide variation in the range totally alters the taste,” Kirk says. Specifications may also include physical properties, nutritional facts, microbiological purity, and packaging methods.

In the end, whether you are sourcing sugar and spice, or corn and beef, trust and partnership is everything. All of the experts agree that having relationships with your suppliers or farmers is the best way to guarantee quality and consistency with every ingredient purchase. “When you have strong partnerships,” Kirk says, “everyone benefits.”

Sarah Fister Gale is Editor of Organic Processing Magazine. She can be reached at sarah@organicprocessing.com.