From The April/May 2003 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

Natural Edge

Abiding by USDA regs signals commitment to National Organic Program

Randy Barrett

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program regulations have prompted a growing number of retailers to seek organic certification for individual departments in their stores. To do so, they're going through a rigorous process similar to that followed by growers seeking organic certification.

The road to certification can be rough, but retailers who have already been through the process say the extra effort shows shoppers you are dedicated to organics and gives you a way to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Certifying the produce department is often the logical first step for many retailers. It requires an in-depth food-handling plan to track all fruits and vegetables from backroom invoices to the retail sets. A third-party certifier reviews the plan and either approves, provisionally certifies or rejects it. Once certified, departments can offer customers assurance that organic produce hasn't been contaminated between farm and display case.

Why go to all the extra trouble? Organic trainer and consultant Mark Mulcahy says it's all about gaining a market edge on the competition. "It takes organic retailing to another level," he says.

Wedge Community Co-op in Minneapolis has gone to that level. Certification Coordinator Barth Anderson spent 18 months guiding his entire store through the process, department by department. It was well worth it, he says.

"The haunting question [for organic produce customers] has been, 'How do I really know [it's organic]?' " Anderson says. "Now 'organic' is not just a pretty sign. We can follow the organic paper trail from the farm to the shelf."

Interested in certification? The U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains a list of certifying organizations and information about what it takes to start using the word organic to describe your produce department at www.ams.usda.gov/nop.

The paper trail is quite extensive for organic certification. Retailers must keep all receiving, inventory and sales records for five years; all organic products sold must comply with organic rules; protocols to prevent cross-contamination must be implemented; everything must be properly labeled; and employees must be trained in the new system. Certification also includes an annual on-site inspection.

The biggest problem is cross-contamination, particularly when produce is processed in the store. Whether lopping off the tops of carrots or making a fruit cup, retailers must keep vigilant track of knives, cutting boards and containers.

For example, the Wedge has cleaning logs for each knife so one used to cut a conventional onion at the salad bar doesn't slice an organic mushroom without being washed first. The store also has logs for cutting boards, bins and the sink. If this sounds hard-core, it is.

Still, Anderson says he didn't have much trouble getting his staff to jump on board: "We have a politically active produce crew."

Mulcahy's best advice about training produce department workers is to "make it foolproof."

There's another advantage to produce department certification: If you do any in-store processing of fruits or vegetables—fruit salads or vegetable platters, for example—you must be certified or you cannot label the end product "certified" organic, Mulcahy says.

Going the extra mile may not be for everyone. Organic certification for retailers is currently optional. The USDA's rules also exempt stores selling only prepackaged organic produce. For those stores that elect not to become certified organic, the main goal is to keep organic and conventional fruits and veggies separate and accurately labeled.

Those who ignore the National Organic Program and knowingly sell or label conventional product organic may be fined up to $10,000.

"It's worth doing right," says Organic Trade Association spokeswoman Holly Givens of the certification process.

Soulful baritone Randy Barrett is president of the Business Writers Group in Falls Church, Va.