Organic Foods Are In The Fast Lane And Organic Valley Is Behind The Wheel

By Karla Paris

An enterprise solution, generational planning, and a little help from the White House are aiding the leading producer of organic food continue its exponential sales growth

The USDA announced new figures showing the organic market’s continued growth both domestically and globally.  Retail sales in the segment totaled in at $35 billion for 2013, climbing $6 billion over 2012. When you couple consumer demand with the 2014 Farm Bill — signed by President Obama earlier this year — there is little doubt that the USDA will remain supportive of efforts to help producers and small business tap into organic agriculture as it continues to grow and thrive.

Organic Valley, the world's largest organic farmer cooperative, announced at its three-day annual meeting on Thursday, April 3 that consumer demand for organic butter, cheese, and vegetables helped boost its sales 8.5 percent in 2013 to nearly $929.5 million.  During the company’s three-day event, Organic Valley celebrated its next generation of organic farmers by awarding three of its young farmer-owners with Generation Organic (Gen-O) Awards. Generation Organic is a group of Organic Valley and Organic Prairie farmers aged 16 to 35 who represent the next generation of sustainable agriculture leaders and who believe in the power of organic farming to change the world.

It’s no surprise that Organic Valley continues to see growth, especially when you consider that the company’s milk accounts for about 50 percent of organic milk sales in the U.S. and is the top-selling organic milk in China.  While overall milk sales are declining, Organic Valley is still seeing growth as more consumers turn to almond milk and other plant-based alternatives.

Sales aren’t the only thing continuing to improve at Organic Valley.  The company is focused on improving its supply chain and software to better aid consumers.  Through this software and supply chain investment, it will enable Organic Valley to:

• Meet its production, financial, and reporting requirements in one solution;
• Eliminate code customization within planning and scheduling tools;
• Increased agility on the technical side to support rapid business growth;
• Optimize manufacturing and distribution of all dairy, meat, and produce products nationwide;
• Increase sales per employee by 37 percent, and;
• Anticipate savings of nearly $2 million per year based on estimates.

Learn more about how Organic Valley boosted sales and operational efficiency

Shoppers are becoming more health-conscious, but their definition of health is also changing. Today's consumers are increasingly driven to local, natural, organic, and sustainable offerings — all of which are strongly tied to their contemporary definitions of health.