Seen and heard at Organic Produce Summit — Part 1

MONTEREY, Calif. — From a keynote presentation on the organic consumer that noted the strength of fruit and vegetable sales compared to other organic categories to conversation on the show floor, where more than one exhibitor said their organic offerings are outpacing conventional, Organic Produce Summit painted a bright future for the organic produce industry.

Held July 10-11 at the Monterey Convention Center, the event brought together key players in organic produce ready to talk new products, sustainable packaging and eating experience.

At the North Shore Living booth, Andrea Gonzalez shared news on both the organic and new product front. “We're fully organic now, which wasn't the case two years ago,” she said. The company also featured its Counter Culture trio of potted basil, mint and thyme, which it bills as “giftable, refillable and recyclable.” While the product launched last year, it is newly available as certified organic.

Oppy showcased its Sun Grape line of California-grown green and red table grapes, now available in an organic option. It also touted Zespri organic Sungold and green kiwifruit; organic Ocean Spray cranberries; and greenhouse-grown organic peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes from Origin Organic Farms.
 

Tasty pairings were on tap at the Envy Apples booth, where Jon Kiley and Vince Lopes served up samples of Envy apple slices with aged Manchego, triple crème brie and Justin's Organic Nut Butter to highlight the apple's versatility and ability to provide a premium culinary experience, said Kiley.

Envy also noted the apple's popularity. “Domestic supplies of Envy sold out,” said Kiley. “It's one of the few apple varieties to do so.” Envy imports from New Zealand, South Africa and Chile are just now arriving and are expected to be in the market for the next three months before the start of domestic season, he said. Envy is further expecting a significantly larger crop out of Washington this year compared to previous years.

“The stars have aligned for Envy,” said Kiley, quite literally. Celebrities including Barbara Streisand and JJ Watt have taken to social media, unsolicited, to share their love of the apple.

“Year over year, this has been the best season for kiwifruit,” said Dave Hoggendam at the Zespri booth, who added that the season is just over halfway. He also noted that sales of organic kiwifruit are outpacing conventional.

Mastronardi Produce featured its organic Summer berry line, which includes Organic Summer Pop Blueberries, Summer Dream Raspberries and Summer Delight Strawberries that it says offers consumers a taste of summer all year long. Packaging for the Summer line is designed to attract and delight consumers with its tropical vibe and electric color palette, said Mastronardi's Peppe Bonfiglio.

Stemilt's Auna Lundberg highlighted its EZ Band sustainable packaging option for four large-sized organic apples in a scannable unit. “It's easy to stock, shop and sell,” said Lundberg of the EZ Band. “Six out of 10 shoppers buy organic, and they usually buy three to four apples at a time, so the EZ Band fits that demand.”

Lundberg also shared that Stemilt is seeing a 56% increase year over year on the size of its Organic Cosmic Crisp crop.

When it comes to boosting sales of organic fruit, Lundberg says multivariety and multiproduct promotions are the way to go at retail. These promotions spark “a really nice lift in sales,” she said.