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The growth of organic: How can organic scale up and maintain its integrity?

Organic Trade Association’s conference features organic leaders growing without compromising

Maggie McNeil
(
mmcneil@ota.com
(202) 403-8514
(202) 615-7997
)
Washington , DC
US
 (
March 27, 2019
) — 

Organic has expanded to a $50 billion market in the United States, from food to textiles to personal care products and more. But can the organic industry grow in a way that preserves the core trust that consumers have bestowed upon the label?

The Organic Trade Association’s “Bold Ideas & Critical Conversations” 2019 annual conference on May 22 will feature an in-depth and provocative discussion looking at how the organic industry can earn and maintain shoppers’ trust even as it continues to flourish.

The ”Scaling with Integrity & Organic Values” discussion will be kicked off by Ambassador Darci Vetter, former Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Vetter, now head of Edelman’s Washington, D.C. Public Affairs practice, will present the findings of Edelman’s Trust 2019 Barometer, which measures the levels of trust of thousands of consumers in dozens of countries in government, businesses, NGOs and the media. Organic industry leaders will benefit from learning which institutions garner high levels of public trust – and why.

Civil Eats Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Naomi Starkman, will continue the discussion on how organic businesses can grow and expand without compromising. Starkman will talk with a panel of executives from the largest produce companies, the leading organic brand, and a major food maker with a dedicated emphasis on organic about some of the most challenging aspects of growing their organic businesses without sacrificing the core tenets of the seal.

The panel will include Jeff Huckaby, President and CEO, Cal-Organic/Grimmway Farms; Melissa Hughes, Chief Mission Officer and General Counsel, Organic Valley; Deverl Maserang, President, Earthbound Farm; and Carla Vernon, President, Natural & Organic, General Mills.

For more information on the Bold Ideas & Critical Conversations conference and on OrganicWeekDC, see this page. 

Leading Edge Thinking. Better Solutions.

Bold Ideas & Critical Conversations.


The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America. OTA is the leading voice for the organic trade in the United States, representing over 9,500 organic businesses across 50 states. Its members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers' associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants, retailers and others. OTA’s Board of Directors is democratically elected by its members. OTA's mission is to promote and protect ORGANIC with a unifying voice that serves and engages its diverse members from farm to marketplace.