By Tim Linden W ith Western Growers as one of its significant lively audience and a tech-heavy trade show. The summit was co-hosted by the Organic Produce Network and California Certified Organic Farmers, with Western Growers serving as the technology sponsor, including hosting “Tech Alley” during the trade show portion of the full-day event. Also featured were six breakout sessions and three keynote addresses, which largely served to quantify the increasing impact organics are having on the food industry. One of those keynote addresses featured a round table discussion on the organic industry’s attractiveness to investors. Moderator Scott LaRue, an investment banker with Piper Jaffray, told the crowd, which represented all links in the organic produce supply chain, that a stunning amount of capital is heading to the organic sector. He noted that the sector is “on-trend” as it is a central focus of millennials and capitalizes on the healthy eating mega-trend. While not a perfect fit for public companies because of the volatility of agriculture, LaRue said there is a huge amount of private investment money looking at the organic sector as the next big thing. “It is a very, very active sector on Wall Street,” he noted. His panelists consisted of three of the larger growers in the western organic produce industry: Grimmway Farms, JV Smith Farms and Mission Ranch. Those firms were represented respectively by Jeff Huckaby, Vic Smith, and Stan Pura. Smith noted that one of the problems with investment money in the produce industry is that investors are typically looking for a quick return while at JV Smith Farms decisions are made with a vision five-15 years down the road. Smith said his firms have done well with traditional bank financing. Huckaby told the story of how Grimmway has become the largest organic grower in California and probably in the United States. The firm currently has 42,000 acres of organic vegetables under cultivation. He said it is all about using top notch land and finding the right crop rotation to enhance the soil, which improves quality and yield. Pura discussed Mission’s evolution to become one of Earthbound Farms larger grower partners. The growing entity specializes in organic salad blends. He believes the organic sector has much more room for growth on the supply side as growers are becoming much more efficient. He said 20 years ago, they had 20 percent waste in getting a crop from the field to market. “Now we are looking at only 5 percent.” ORGANIC GROWER SUMMIT First-time Event Draws Enthusiastic Crowd sponsors, the inaugural Organic Grower Summit was held in Monterey, CA, in mid-December, with a
Another keynote speaker, Don Barnett of the meal kit firm Sun Basket, discussed why he believes food in general, and organic food in particular, is ripe for disruption. He said many other sectors—from books to electronics to laundry soap—have seen a significant percent of market share grabbed by on-line suppliers. That hasn’t happened yet in the food industry but Barnett believes it will soon. He argued that his firm answers the question that is top of mind most afternoons for most people: “What’s for dinner?” He said statistics show that 80 percent of consumers cook at home three to five times a week. With their proportioned meal kits, Sun Basket makes that easier. By January 1, Barnett said all of the ingredients in the Sun Basket kits will be organic. The company is moving in that direction because organic food sales are growing faster than conventional foods and is an on-trend category. With its three distribution centers strategically placed throughout the country, Barnet said Sun Basket reaches 98 percent of the zip codes in the United States, including food deserts that have little access to organic offerings. Another keynote address witnessed Miles McEvoy, the retired former head of the USDA’s National Organic Program, give a full-throated endorsement of that program. However, he did say it
Tami Glover and Greg Jones of Western Growers Insurance Services
28 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2018
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