Market Farming

[Aozotorp AT aol.com]

http://www.bouldernews.com/business/22borg.html

Organics struggle with rules 
By Katie Ford 
Camera Business Writer


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BROOMFIELD — Although they are competitors in the retail world, leaders of 
companies selling organic products came together to discuss a new USDA law 
regulating the organic industry at the fifth annual Natural Business Market 
Trends conference at the Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield this week. 

While trying to understand how to implement the new law, companies marketing 
organic products need to remember the consumer's personal interest in their 
products, said Mark Retzloff, co-founder of Longmont-based Horizon Organic 
Dairy. 

"Once we do that, the highway broadens," Retzloff said. "We need to make 
those connections with the consumer." 

Speaking to an audience of mostly manufacturers and growers in the organic 
industry, Retzloff, Theresa Marquez, director of marketing for 
Wisconsin-based Organic Valley and Thomas Harding, president of AgriSystsems 
International, talked about the opportunities and challenges presented by the 
new regulations. 

The law is a culmination of work over the past 10 years to certify organic 
products and was released in late December. Companies selling and making 
organic products have up to Oct. 21, 2002 to implement the guidelines for 
organic products set forth by the law. 

The new standards created a national standard for the term "organic" and 
details the methods, practices and substances that can be used in producing 
and handling organic crops and livestock, as well as processed products. The 
law also established organic labeling criteria to be implemented by mid-2002. 

Retzloff said the challenge for the organic industry in the future will be to 
convey its core values to consumers. 

In the past, organic companies have promoted the environmentally friendly 
side of their products, but they need to also focus marketing on the personal 
effects on the consumer, he said. 

"That's not as important to a consumer as how that food impacts a person's 
life," he said, adding the industry needs to do more to market the 
nutritional values of organic foods. 

A soil association in England plans to release research on the nutritional 
benefits of organic foods late this summer, Retzloff said. 

Harding said the law, which materialized into a document of about 580 pages, 
will help create a level playing field in the industry even though concerns 
remain about its implementation. 

Marquez said certain restrictions in the law present problems in the 
industry. For example, the law dictates which synthetic and non-synthetic 
materials can be used in production of an organic product. 

"For the growers there are some real threats," she said. "The materials list 
is difficult." 

Retzloff said the standard labels for organic foods will help the consumer 
identify those products and, hopefully, create a standard reference. 

"That is a very important thing for people and their buying decisions," he 
said. 

The organic industry needs a way to promote its message in a way that 
consumers understand, Retzloff said. He said industry leaders have discussed 
starting a nonprofit company to help market the industry. 



June 22, 2001