AUSTIN, TX - Organics is a growing sector that has quickly taken hold in the industry as a major driver for consumer purchasing habits. Whole Foods Market latched on to the movement early, and the concept of organics and health-forward, “whole foods,” has been a part of the retailer’s brand from the get-go. Whole Foods’ President and Chief Merchandising Officer, A.C. Gallo, was recently featured on the podcast Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg, where he commented on the history and future of organics in the industry, detailing the origins of the movement and how the retailer plans to evolve and fortify the category.

“It wasn’t until 1979 when California passed their organic food law that there was a definition for what organic was, and it started to clean up that whole part of the business,” he said. “We really started to see more availability of organic produce especially through the '80s. Then in 1990, the federal government finally passed a law, and at that point there was a clear definition that everyone aligned to and that really started the explosion of organic foods.”

Once the category was clearly defined and established, it became obvious that organics was a designation in high demand among consumers. Gallo recalled how, as Whole Foods grew, the retailer began to realize there was a need to develop products and standards to address that demand. Throughout the years, Whole Foods kept bulking out its organic offerings and testing new initiatives, even though not all were successes.

“We created a program we called the ‘Responsibly Grown’ rating system that would rate farms based on their water usage, soil health, alternative energy use, and farm labor practices,” Gallo mentioned. “It turned out that it was just too complex for, and more than the consumer wanted to know. It was also confusing for our team members to figure out their ratings. Even some growers had issues with the rating system because some conventional growers actually got as high of ratings as some of the organic growers, and the organic growers weren’t happy about it! We realized that it was a good try and it didn’t work, so we backed away from it. So we’ve been thinking the last year or two about what we can do next.”

Regenerative agriculture is one hot topic on Whole Foods’ radar, and although the practice isn’t exactly mainstream, Gallo noted that some of the retailer’s suppliers are involved in regenerative agricultural processes, but that it is not clearly defined across all produce categories.

“One of the things we’re going to do this year is we’re going to spend a lot of time and energy looking into regenerative agriculture and how we can add that aspect to organic production and how we keep moving that forward,” he commented.

The full podcast can be found here.

Keep reading AndNowUknow for more insight on the shifting world of organics.

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