Steve Hoffman 7/1/19 Steve Hoffman 7/1/19

Beyond “Best By” – MOM’s Organic Market CEO Ate Expired Food for a Year

Originally appeared in Presence Marketing News, July 2019
By Steven Hoffman

“I mean, I ate heavy cream I think 10 weeks past date, and then meat sometimes a good month past its date. It didn’t smell bad. Rinse it off, good to go,” Scott Nash shared with the Washington Post in a June 18, 2019, interview. Nash is the founder and CEO of MOM’s Organic Market based in Rockville, MD, with 19 stores in four Eastern states. According to the Post, Nash consumed yogurt months after the expiration date printed on the label, and tortillas a year past their expiration date. It was all part of his year-long experiment to test the limits on food that had passed its expiration date. Nash blogged about that experiment in February 2019.

Of course, you can get very sick eating expired food, but more often than not we're throwing away food that is perfectly safe to eat. Some foods, such as deli meats, unpasteurized milk and cheeses, and prepared foods like potato salad that you don't reheat, probably should be thrown away after their “Use By” date for safety reasons. However, in many cases, the Post reports, expiration dates do not indicate when the food stops being safe to eat; rather, they tell you when the manufacturer thinks that particular product will stop looking and tasting its best.

Why does it matter? A lot of good, safe food gets thrown away, generating unnecessary food waste in landfills and greenhouse gas emissions. The FDA estimates that we throw out a third of our food, worth $161 billion a year, and the agency believes that confusion over expiration dates may be contributing a significant portion of that waste, reported Popular Science.

In an effort to find a solution for clearer package date labels, in 2017, the grocery industry, led by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, announced a voluntary standard on food-date labeling. Together, they narrowed a number of date-label terms down to two: "Best if Used By" and "Use By." "Best if used by" describes product quality, meaning that the product might not taste as good past the date but is safe to eat. "Use by" is for products that are highly perishable and should be used or disposed of by that date.

To help dispel confusion, the FDA announced on May 23, 2019, that it is supporting the food industry’s efforts to standardize the use of the term “Best if Used By” on its packaged food labeling “if the date is simply related to optimal quality – not safety,” said the agency in a statement. Studies have shown that this best conveys to consumers that these products do not have to be discarded after the date if they are stored properly, the agency said. “We expect that over time, the number of various date labels will be reduced as industry aligns on this ‘Best if Used By’ terminology,” said Frank Yiannas, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response. “This change is already being adopted by many food producers.”

When it comes to food safety, the FDA said that manufacturers can put whatever terminology they want to convey health risk. While the FDA is encouraging manufacturers to use "Best if Used By" terminology as a best practice, it is not required by law. There is no federal law that requires dates on food, except for infant formula, which is required to bear a “Use By” date, reports the FDA. Other industry experts have suggested using language that indicates shelf life after opening or the date when the product was packed.

“They’re trying to bring clarity to the descriptor of the date,” MOM’s Organic Market’s Scott Nash said. “OK, that’s great, that’s better than what we have now. But I think some things just shouldn’t be dated.”

FDA advises consumers to routinely examine foods that are past their “Best if Used By” date to determine if the quality is sufficient for use. “If the products have changed noticeably in color consistency or texture, consumers may want to avoid eating them,” FDA advises. FDA also developed a FoodKeeper App for Apple and Android phones, designed to promote understanding of food and beverage storage to maximize freshness and quality.

FDA says its efforts are part of a White House initiative called Winning on Food Waste, a collaboration between the FDA, USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency to educate consumers on ways to reduce food waste and how to do it safely without risking illness from consuming spoiled food.

Learn More:
Winning on Reducing Food Waste
FDA Letter to Food Industry, May 23, 2019
FDA’s Food Waste and Loss Resource Page, May 23, 2019

Upcoming:
Southern Hemp Expo, September 6-7, 2019, Franklin, Tennessee – Learn about the exploding market for “all things hemp” – from bioplastics to CBD – at the second annual Southern Hemp Expo, the largest hemp exposition and conference in the Eastern U.S., featuring an investors summit, business conference, agriculture symposium and a full exhibition hall. Visit www.SouthernHempExpo.com. To exhibit, sponsor and for info, contact steve@compassnatural.com.

Steve Hoffman 7/1/19 Steve Hoffman 7/1/19

Butter Labeling Wars: Wisconsin Dairy Industry Takes On Plant-based “Butter”

Originally appeared in New Hope’s IdeaXchange, July 2019
By Steven Hoffman

Until recently, the U.S. dairy industry remained relatively quiet regarding the proliferation of plant-based products that use words such as “milk,” “yogurt” and “cheese. Now, lobbyists and policymakers for dairy producers in Wisconsin, the nation’s leading producer of butter made from cow’s milk and the state that calls itself “America’s Dairyland,” want to limit use of the word on plant-based products, such as the best-selling vegan “butter” sold by Miyoko’s Kitchen, reported Bloomberg News.

This past spring, Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) instructed supermarkets to remove nondairy products that use the term “butter” on labels, based on complaints from dairy producers that these products don’t comply with the state’s definition of butter, which requires that butter be made from dairy-based milk or cream. After being singled out and pulled from several stores, Miyoko’s agreed to affix a sticker to the label that read “vegetable spread.”

Companies such as Miyoko’s are riding a wave of popularity for plant-based products, especially dairy alternatives, reports Fortune. Plant-based milk retail sales totaled $1.8 billion for the year ending May 25, 2019, a 6.5% increase, according to data shared from Nielsen. Cheese substitute sales totaled $117 million, showing 17.4% growth. Cashew butters were up to $12.6 million, representing an increase of 4.9%, Fortune reported.

Changing consumer preferences toward plant-based foods are often cited as a chief cause of dairy’s slow decline, however, vegan products using labels such as “milk” – or in this case, “butter” – are seen by the milk lobby as misleading consumers to unfairly steal market share.

An official at DATCP said the agency is not planning to enforce labeling laws on other dairy products, such as “milk,” however, it will follow the FDA’s lead in this regard. Regarding butter, however, “It’s been an important product.” Wisconsin products more than one third of all butter sold in the U.S., Fortune reported.

FDA, for its part, may seek to restrict use of such traditional dairy terms by plant-based food producers. As part of its Nutrition Innovation Strategy, FDA announced it is modernizing standards of identity, which “define through regulation certain characteristics, ingredients, and quality of specific foods,” said an agency statement from Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner at the time of the strategy’s launch. However, a review commissioned by the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) reported that 76% of people who commented to the FDA were in favor of allowing plant-based products to continue using dairy terminology.

“The entire debate over the use of the term milk and other dairy terms on plant-based foods and beverages is a solution in search of a problem,” Good Karma Foods CEO Doug Radi told Food Navigator USA in January 2019. “Plant-based foods that can directly replace dairy-based products make use of the same terminology (e.g. milk, butter, cheese) because they serve the same purposes and are used in almost exactly the same way as their dairy counterparts (in cereal, a glass, smoothies, coffee, etc.) Consumers understand words in context,” he said. “Consumers think these words represent proper descriptors for the products and do not believe we are trying to pass off our products as a dairy product. In fact, we would not be successfully doing so, as consumers buying our products are looking for alternatives to dairy,” Radi added.

Steve Hoffman 6/26/19 Steve Hoffman 6/26/19

Hemp Harassment: Leading Online Retailer Thrive Market Forced to Cease Sales of All Hemp and CBD Products in Banking Backlash

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Originally Appeared in Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter, June 2019
By Steven Hoffman

In a seeming backlash to the burgeoning hemp economy, hemp and CBD retailers, industry associations and other hemp-centric businesses are being denied or threatened with denial of banking, credit card processing and other key business services, including a national newswire service that announced this past month it will no longer accept press releases from hemp companies, and is, in fact, deleting all existing and previously issued press releases related to hemp and CBD from its online archives. It is a disturbing trend in an industry that was made legal across the U.S. as a result of the 2018 Farm Bill and is projected to grow to $26.6 billion by 2025.

It has forced such retailers as leading online natural products grocer Thrive Market to cease sales of all hemp and CBD products, a best-selling category over the past 18 months on its nationally recognized ecommerce site. The member-based online retailer boasts more than 500,000 members. “In early June, we received a notice from our merchant processor demanding that we cease the sale of all hemp and CBD products on Thrive Market. We unfortunately have no choice but to comply, and we’ll begin removing our assortment as early as Thursday, June 20,” wrote Thrive Market’s cofounder and CEO Nick Green in his blog on June 17. As of this writing, clicking on that assortment link takes you to a blank product page on Thrive Market’s website.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Hemp Authority, a not-for-profit trade group developing certification standards for the industry, lost payment processing services in June after being dropped by its vendor, Stripe, based in San Francisco, reported Hemp Today on June 20. According a report in CNN Business, Stripe said it dropped the U.S. Hemp Authority’s account because of liability concerns, despite the fact that the trade organization is not a seller of any hemp products. “We’re being told we’re high risk. We’re actually trying to minimize human risk,” Hemp Authority president Marielle Weintraub told CNN.

Abrupt Notice
Since a leading credit card processor, Elavon, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, abruptly notified its hemp and CBD clients in March 2019 that it had recategorized hemp and CBD merchants as a “prohibited business type” and was backing out within 45 days of handling payment processing for such companies, a number of hemp businesses have been scrambling to establish secure and durable payment processing relationships. According to one estimate by Philippa Burgess, cofounder of MMJ FinSol, a Denver-based financial services solutions company for hemp, cannabis and other “high-risk” businesses, Elavon’s policy changes affected up to 40,000 CBD companies.

Another merchant processor, Fortress Payment Technologies, in May 2019 notified all its ecommerce customers selling CBD products that they would no longer be able to process Visa credit card payments through the bank. Some sellers received less than eight hours’ notice of these changes, reported Folium Biosciences, a vertically integrated hemp-derived phytocannabinoid producer based in Colorado Springs. The company recently launched a CBD/hemp friendly financial services platform for its customers to help remove the financial hurdles faced by the CBD industry, it said.

Kyle Rapoza, cofounder of Vermont-based Mansfield Provisions, which distributes CBD products online and through brick and mortar retail partnerships, lost credit card processing services for his company in late May 2019, when Elavon stopped doing business with the hemp industry. He explained to Ganjapreneur Magazine that, in the wake of Elavon’s action, many of the industry operators he knows and does business with are moving back to high risk (and high fee) accounts. Rapoza has since been able to access more traditional business accounts through a state credit union, Ganjapreneur reported.

Biggest Challenge Facing the Hemp Industry
It’s a “difficult time” for the industry as it related to financial services, which he called “the biggest challenge in the industry right now,” Jonathan Miller, general counsel for Kentucky-based industry association Hemp Roundtable, told Ganjapreneur. “The law, we believe, is clear that since the [2018 Farm Bill], hemp and CBD are no longer controlled substances. There should be no concern whatsoever that there would be violations of federal law to engage in commerce. …Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation – it’s banks, it’s credit card companies, it’s merchant services that have been refusing to do business with these hemp and CBD companies.”

Because banks have been so hesitant to serve hemp and CBD businesses despite the legalization of hemp in the Farm Bill, U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Ron Wyden (R-OR) – chief proponents of legalizing hemp – in April 2019 sent individualized letters to four federal banking and financial regulatory institutions, imploring them to prevent banking discrimination of the hemp industry, reported Cannalaw Blog.

In addition, when pressed by U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) at a hearing in June 2019, Marijuana Moment reported that Federal Reserve board member Michelle Bowman pledged to inform banks that they can service hemp businesses. When Tester asked specifically how the Fed is advising institutions when it comes to hemp, Bowman responded, “We have not told them that they cannot bank them.” Tester countered that while he and Bowman might be on the same page, it is possible that banks were hearing a different message—hence why hemp businesses have said that they’re still experiencing difficulties accessing credit. Tester said clarification is especially important at this stage because of fallout from trade wars with China and Mexico, as hemp represents a potentially lucrative crop for American farmers. “I would agree with you. We would not discourage banks from banking these types of customers,” Bowman said. “We’ll try to clarify that. Hemp is not an illegal crop.”

What, No Press Releases?
While certain merchant banks seek to stifle hemp industry growth through the denial of critical financial services, another service provider in the media newswire business seeks to silence its voice.

One leading hemp industry media and event production company, Colorado Hemp Company, based in Loveland, CO – producer of the NoCo Hemp Expo, Southern Hemp Expo, and the Let’s Talk Hemp weekly newsletter and podcast – was recently informed by its newswire service, ReleaseWire, that it will not post or distribute any new press releases that mention hemp, and in addition, it was deleting all existing and previous press releases mentioning hemp that Colorado Hemp Company had posted in the past. In a policy update issued on May 8, 2019, ReleaseWire, one of the nation’s leading online national newswire services, issued the following statement, after which it began informing hemp-centric businesses that not only were they not accepting new press releases for distribution, they were deleting all existing press releases and archives related to cannabis, hemp or CBD:

“ReleaseWire was recently contacted by our credit card processor and informed that they have a policy in place that restricts merchants, including ReleaseWire, from linking to, or providing information about, marijuana, cannabis, CBD, hemp and related products. As such, we have been instructed by our credit card processor that we must not only stop taking press release submissions on these topics, but we must remove any existing press releases and related content from our site. They have provided us with a small window of time to complete this process or risk losing the ability to process credit cards.”

Meanwhile, other newswire services including Cision, owner of PR Newswire and PRWeb, continue to accept and publish hemp, CBD and cannabis related press releases on behalf of clients.

Hemp Friendly Payment Processors
So which payment processors are willing to serve hemp and CBD companies? One such processor, Adept Payments, says on its website that it helps high risk businesses, including vape, CBD, adult, casinos and more.

While financial services group, Edward Jones, has no official policy about outreach to the hemp industry, a broker in Bend, OR, contacted Hemp Industry Daily to say he was offering a “full spectrum of banking, investment, insurance and financial planning services to hemp farmers.” Officially, Edward Jones is “looking at the provision in the Farm Bill that addresses hemp growing,” John Boul, manager of global media relations for the St. Louis-based Edward Jones told Hemp Industry Daily in April 2019.

Square, a leading online payment processor, recently soft-launched credit card processing for CBD companies, but the program is still in beta testing phase and is by invitation only. Former credit card processing professional and current blogger Phillip Parker, who describes his site, CardPaymentOptions.com, as a credit card processing watchdog group, posted a guide to the Best Merchant Accounts for Hemp Products in June 2019. Also, Merchant Maverick, a self-described comparison website that reviews and rates credit card processors, mobile payment services and other small business software, published a guide to the Best CBD Oil Merchant Account Providers in April 2019.

For CBD sellers on Shopify and other major ecommerce platforms, a recently launched processor, Organic Payment Gateways, advertises that its mission is to help people in the CBD business process payments online, and that its payment gateways work smoothly with Shopify, WooCommerce and others. Leap Payments, Instabill and other services promote that they are dedicated to ensuring CBD businesses “can accept debit and credit card payments just like any other business can.”

So, for now, you won’t find any hemp or CBD products at Thrive Market, however, the ecommerce retailer says it won’t give up without a fight. “We believe that ethical and sustainable hemp is another cause worth fighting for, so rest assured that we will be working behind the scenes in the coming weeks to get hemp products back on Thrive Market,” Nick Green wrote in his blog. “In fact, we’re already in conversations with a new processing partner to try to make that happen.”

Steve Hoffman 6/13/19 Steve Hoffman 6/13/19

Kroger, Nation’s Largest Supermarket, to Carry CBD in Nearly 1,000 Stores

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Originally Appeared in Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter, June 2019
By Steven Hoffman

As the hemp and CBD market continues to evolve at hyper-speed, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, Kroger, announced it is joining Walgreens, CVS, Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, Nieman Marcus and other major retailers that have all started carrying CBD products in their stores.

Kroger, which made a “meaningful investment” in Boulder, CO-based natural foods chain Lucky’s Market, which itself is a leading seller of CBD products, announced on June 11 that it will now sell hemp-derived CBD topical products, including creams, balms and oils, in 945 Kroger-owned stores across 17 states, reported CNBC News, which referred to CBD as “one of the hottest consumer trends.”

“Like many retailers, we are starting to offer our customers a highly-curated selection of topical products like lotions, balms, oils and creams that are infused with hemp-derived CBD,” said Kristal Howard, head of corporate communications and media relations at Kroger, in a statement. “CBD is a naturally occurring and non-intoxicating compound that has promising benefits and is permitted within federal and state regulations. Our limited selection of hemp-derived CBD topical products is from suppliers that have been reviewed for quality and safety,” she added.

Consumer interest in and demand for products made with cannabinoid compounds or CBD derived from hemp extract is at a fever pitch. Hemp Industry Daily projects hemp-derived CBD retail sales will surge to as much as $7.5 billion by 2023, up from about $1 billion in sales in 2019.

Yet, while CBD derived from hemp is now legal thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill passed by Congress late last year, the FDA maintains that companies still can’t add CBD to food or sell it as a dietary supplement. However, with so many CBD supplements and CBD-infused food and beverage products already on the market, the FDA on May 31 held a public hearing to learn more about the issue and hear from hemp industry representatives, manufacturers, advocates and others as it considers its position regarding sales of these products.

For major retailers, selling CBD-infused, topical beauty and skin-care products brings less legal risk, which may explain why retailers such as Kroger, Nieman Marcus and others are starting to offer those types of products first. Given the explosive growth of the market, big box retailers Walmart and Target are also reported to be exploring the potential for hemp and CBD-related products in their stores.

Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, is the world’s largest grocery retailer, with fiscal 2018 sales of $121.2 billion, and operating stores under names including Kroger, King Soopers, Ralph’s, Dillon’s, City Market, Fry’s, QFC, Mariano’s, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter and others. Kroger also is a leading seller of healthy lifestyles products – it’s sales of natural and organic products alone exceeded $16 billion in 2017. Kroger’s private label organic brand, Simple Truth, with sales exceeding $2 billion, is one of the largest natural and organic brands in the U.S.

Kroger says it will sell the CBD products in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Steve Hoffman 6/13/19 Steve Hoffman 6/13/19

Kroger, Nation’s Largest Supermarket, to Carry CBD in Nearly 1,000 Stores

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By Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural

Steve Hoffman 6/5/19 Steve Hoffman 6/5/19

Organic Hemp Production Emphasized to Lawmakers, Farmers During “Organic Week” Policy Conference in Washington, DC

Originally appeared on www.LetsTalkHemp.com

One Organic Farmer Treats Hemp Grown for CBD Like a “Specialty Vegetable Crop”
By Steven Hoffman

The importance of certified organic in hemp agriculture cannot be overstated. Currently, nearly 80,000 acres are in hemp production in the U.S., and very few of them are certified organic. That means that the majority of hemp produced in the U.S. is being grown conventionally, using potentially toxic, synthetic pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer derived from the fracking of natural gas.

Frankly, that’s not very good for the environment or for the oncoming climate crisis, as conventional agriculture is one of the largest non-point sources of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contributing to global warming, and fracking releases massive quantities of methane – another potent GHG – into the atmosphere. On the other hand, organically grown hemp can actually sequestercarbon out of the atmosphere and put it back in the soil where it belongs, helping to keep CO2 and other noxious GHGs out of the atmosphere.

Additionally, when given a choice, I’ll choose CBD and hemp extract products that are produced and processed organically, thus minimizing my dietary exposure to toxic pesticide residues and other chemical solvents, because who wants pesticide residues included with their concentrated botanical medicine?

Seeing the explosive growth of the hemp market in the wake of the 2018 Farm Bill, the organic industry’s leading trade association, the Organic Trade Association (www.ota.com) invited my communications agency, Compass Natural, to help plan and present an educational track focused on farmers’ perspectives and market opportunities for certified organic hemp, CBD and related products as part of OTA’s annual Organic Week policy conference, held May 20-23, 2019, in Washington, D.C. OTA’s Organic Week draws organic industry leaders from across the U.S. to interact with policymakers and Congressional leaders to help forward the interests of organic food and agriculture.

At the Organic Week conference, OTA announced that sales of organic products in the U.S. surpassed $50 billion, growing 6.3% to reach a record $52.5 billion in 2018. Almost 6% (5.7%) of all food sold in the U.S. is now organic, driven in large part by demand for organic produce, dairy, plant-based products, dietary supplements, textiles and fiber. “Organic is now considered mainstream. But the attitudes surrounding organic are anything but status quo,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the OTA. “In 2018, there was a notable shift in the mindset of those working in organic toward collaboration and activism to move the needle on the role organic can play in sustainability and tackling environmental initiatives.”

Lobbying for Hemp
As part of OTA’s Organic Week, I was scheduled to visit several congressional offices on Capitol Hill, lobbying on behalf of organic food and farming and industrial hemp, CBD and related products. The staff at the offices of Colorado Senators Michael Bennett and Cory Gardner were supportive of industrial hemp in our meetings, and in alignment with Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ goal of furthering Colorado’s leadership in industrial hemp, as were staff leaders in the offices of Colorado Representatives Joe Neguse and Diana DeGette. However, staff at the offices of Idaho Congressmen Russell Fulcher and Mike Simpson deferred to their state’s legislature when it came to my questions regarding Idaho’s seizure in January of a container shipment of industrial hemp from a licensed grower in Oregon bound for processing in Colorado, despite the 2018 federal Farm Bill declaring that interstate transport and commerce of hemp-derived products is now legal throughout the U.S.

In addition to our Capitol Hill visits, I moderated a lively seminar attended by a number of organic farmers interested in or already growing hemp for food, supplements and fiber as part of an educational track focused on hemp during OTA’s Organic Week. At the seminar, longtime organic farmer Chris Jagger, owner of Blue Fox Farm in Oregon, shared how he began growing hemp three years ago. Instead of planting hemp densely, like they do for fiber production where tall stalks and little foliage are desired, Chris farms his hemp like a specialty crop, or “like vegetables,’ he says, to cultivate the delicate hemp flowers for CBD extraction. Currently, a small number of organic certifiers, including OneCert, CCOF and MOSA are certifying farms for organic hemp production, and rumor has it some other major certifiers will soon follow.

At the same time across town, hemp advocate Ben Droz participated in the inaugural Congressional Cannabis Forum hosted on May 21 by Washington, D.C.-based KCSA Strategic Communications. “While covering all aspects of the cannabis market, the KCSA forum presented a hemp panel that examined capital markets and the global economic implications of the legalization of hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill,” said Droz. “If hemp extracts become a global commodity, it might not necessarily benefit small scale farmers and producers,” he cautioned. “However, until the FDA comes up with more clear guidelines concerning hemp products, the big corporate players will continue to sit on the sidelines, allowing time for smaller brands to establish and build market share, but that could change at any time,” he said. Droz noted that the FDA scheduled its first public hearing on hemp and CBD in food and beverage for Friday, May 31, 2019. Information on the hearing is published in the Federal Register.

Organic agriculture is a bright spot in the U.S. farm economy, continuing to grow at a rate more than double the growth rate of the overall U.S. food market. According to new OTA data, the number of organic farms grew by 39% while the total number of farms in the U.S. shrank by 3% between 2012 and 2017. Organic products can now be found in more than 82% of U.S. homes, and in some states, including California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and my home state of Colorado, organic products are in over 90% of U.S. households. Here’s hoping that organically produced hemp follows suit.

Steve Hoffman 6/3/19 Steve Hoffman 6/3/19

Natural Investing: The Movement Toward Natural & Organic Food and Healthy Lifestyles

Originally appeared in the June 2019 edition of GreenMoney Journal.
By Steven Hoffman

Sales of Natural & Organic Products Outpace Conventional Food and Beverage as Consumers Get the Message about the Relationship between Diet and Health

Launching natural and organic products companies, as well as investing in them, is a daunting challenge in today’s shifting and competitive retail and consumer products marketplace. Yet, consumer demand for healthier products continues to grow. With concerns ranging from the cost of healthcare to the effects of food and agriculture on climate change, consumers of all ages are opting for natural, organic and functional foods and beverages, nutritional supplements, natural medicines and other eco-friendly products from mission-based companies, local producers and brands that share their values and address their concerns.

And, with conventionally grown apples included at the top of the Environmental Working Group’s infamous “Dirty Dozen” list of contaminated fruits and vegetables because each conventional apple contains on average 4.4 toxic, synthetic pesticide residues, people are realizing that it’s the organic apple a day that keeps the doctor away. By choosing organic, regenerative and other healthful and eco-friendly products, people are investing most directly in their family’s health, the health of the planet, and the health of family farms and local communities. And it’s translating into sustained business growth in the natural and organic products sector.

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In 2018, sales of natural and organic products increased 6.9% to $219 billion, according industry market research leader New Hope Network, while sales of conventional food and beverage products, totaling $634 billion, declined by -0.2% in the same year. “It’s not news that sales of natural, organic and functional foods and beverages are growing at a far faster pace than conventional food and beverage,” said Carlotta Mast, New Hope’s Senior VP of Content and Insights, in an industry trends seminar presented at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA, in March 2019. (Attracting nearly 90,000 visitors from over 70 countries, Expo West is the world’s largest natural and organic products trade show.) “The natural and organic products industry is on track to surpass $250 billion in sales by 2021,” Mast added.

In a real sense, Mast noted, conventionally produced, highly processed food and beverage products, made with artificial flavors, colors and other ingredients, are experiencing negative growth. All the growth today in the food and beverage sector is in natural, organic, nutritional, non-GMO and other clean label products. From a small health food and crunchy, hippy movement of independent natural foods stores and co-ops in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, natural and organic is now leading the way in food and beverage retail and manufacturing innovation – marking a huge shift in the market and in the consumer mindset.

Online vs Brick & Mortar
While manufacturers are compelled in today’s market to pursue what’s referred to as “omnichannel” sales strategies, natural and organic continues to be a “brick and mortar” industry, with 86% of total sales being rung up in either mass market or natural foods stores. Conventional grocery retailers including Kroger, Walmart, Costco and others are taking a larger chunk of the market. According to New Hope data, 60% of total natural and organic product sales are happening in the mass market and mainstream conventional grocery channel, which grew 7.4% to $130 billion in 2018. However, more midsize natural food retail chains such as Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM), Natural Grocers (NYSE:NGVC) and others, which are dedicated to selling predominately natural and organic products, continue to perform well.

“The natural channel, which helped create this industry and continues to be a vitally important channel, grew at a slower rate of 3.3% to reach about $58 billion in sales in 2018. Although natural is now smaller than the mass market channel, it is still strategically important, particularly for new brands,” Mast said.

Online sales are getting a lot of attention in the natural and organic products space, but according to 2018 data from New Hope Network, e-commerce is driving less than 5% of total sales. However, “that will change pretty quickly over time,” Mast said. E-commerce is becoming increasingly important as a launch pad for new products and brands, and online sales for natural and organic products grew 18% to reach $8.4 billion in 2018. “In a survey of 300 natural brands, half of the new companies that entered the market between 2015 and 2018 started selling online before they moved into any kind of retail distribution. That’s a huge shift for our industry,” Mast noted.

“Even with wild swings in the economy over the past nine years, people are moving into natural for health reasons and not financial ones,” said Nick McCoy, Co-founder and Managing Director of Whipstitch Capital, a leading independent M&A and private placement advisory firm focused on the healthy living consumer market. And the good news for natural products businesses trying to establish themselves in the market is that “retailers are still embracing smaller brands, even in conventional natural food sets. Once people start investing in their health, they’re not likely to go back,” he added.

Categories and Trends Driving Growth in Natural and Organic

Organic: Sales of organic foods and beverages grew 5.6% to become a $45 billion market segment in 2018. According to the Organic Trade Association, the organic industry’s leading trade group, in the last decade alone, the U.S. organic market has more than doubled in size. According to New Hope’s Mast, “Organic is absolutely mainstream now and with increased volume and size has come a slight slowing of growth. Some of this has come from the struggles of organic dairy, which makes up 14% of the category, and last year the organic dairy category continued to see growth plateauing due to oversupply and growing consumer preference for plant-based beverages,” Mast observed. According to New Hope’s data, organic produce – fresh fruits and vegetables – comprises 38% of all organic sales. “Organic supply is lagging behind growing consumer demand, a challenge the organic industry has to address,” Mast added. According to the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and IFOAM Organics International, leading international organizations based in the EU, the global market for organic food reached an estimated $97 billion US in 2017 (approximately 90 billion euros). The U.S. is the leading market with 40 billion euros, followed by Germany (10 billion euros), France (7.9 billion euros), and China (7.6 billion euros). The Swiss spent the most on organic food (288 Euros per capita in 2017), and Denmark had the highest organic market share (13.3 percent of the total food market). In 2017, 2.9 million organic producers were reported worldwide, a 5% increase over 2016. Total global farmland under organic production increased 20% to nearly 70 million hectares (173 million acres), representing the largest growth ever recorded by FiBL and IFOAM. Yet for all the success of organic, globally, only 1.4% of the total estimated farmland is organic. Organic production, and in particular, Regenerative Agriculture, with its focus on sequestering carbon and building healthy soils, has the potential to help mitigate climate change and is a powerful new movement emerging in sustainable food and farming.

Plant Based: With a $183.8 million IPO filing submitted recently by plant-based meat alternative company Beyond Meat, maker of the Beyond Burger, plant-based foods are now firmly a trend, as more Americans seek “flexitarian” diet options to reduce the consumption of meat and incorporate more plant based options in their diet. According to the Plant Based Foods Association, sales of plant-based foods grew 20% in 2018 to more than $3.3 billion. This growth is significant when compared to the sales of all foods, which grew just 2%, so plant-based foods dollar sales are outpacing dollar sales of all retail foods by 10X, the association claims. In particular, plant-based dairy alternatives are a rapidly growing category with 50% growth reported. This category includes plant-based cheeses, creamers, butter, yogurts, and ice creams (but not plant-based milk). Plant-based milk now represents 15% of the total milk market, says the Plant Based Foods Association.

Hemp and CBD: According to data collected by Nutrition Business Journal, sales of products derived from industrial hemp, including full spectrum hemp extract and CBD products, grew 60% to reach $238 million in 2018. Industrial hemp, while derived from the same Cannabis sativa plant as marijuana, is defined as containing less than 0.3% THC. At such low levels, hemp is the non-intoxicating cousin to marijuana. With more than 25,000 recorded uses throughout human history from building materials, paper and bioplastics to textiles and fashions, superfoods and natural medicines, hemp is rich in other cannabinoid compounds, of which CBD or cannabidiol is the most widely known. These cannabinoid compounds have been shown to be beneficial to human and animal health. In a historic move championed by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), industrial hemp was legalized in the United States for the first time in over 80 years when the 2018 Farm Bill was signed into law by President Trump in December 2018. For farmers across the country seeking alternative crops to GMO corn and soy and tobacco, hemp has been a godsend. According to industry group Vote Hemp, total acreage under hemp cultivation in the U.S. exceeded 78,000 acres, an increase of nearly 26,000 acres over 2017 estimates. For independent natural products retailers, sales of CBD products, which are now legal across the U.S., though some states and municipalities are still challenging the national law, have also been a boon, enabling them to differentiate themselves from the mainstream retail competition. And while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is monitoring sales of CBD products, the agency has indicated it will allow the market to evolve while also keeping a close watch on potential bad players who make misleading or fraudulent claims on products.

Functional Foods and Ingredients: Consumers are opting for food and beverage products that provide real health benefits and functionality, reported Mast, and beverages and functional snacks helped drive 7.5% growth in this category to $68 billion in sales in 2018. The most popular functional ingredients included the herb ashwaganda, pre- and pro-biotics, and hemp and CBD. “The growth in probiotic foods and beverages represent a continued blurring of the lines between dietary supplements and foods and beverages, as consumers have a growing preference for non-pill and non-capsule delivery forms for functional products,” Mast shared. In addition, the “snackification” convenience trend continues to drive expansion in better-for-you and functional snacks.

Dietary Supplements: Sales of nutritional supplements grew 6.1% in 2018 to $46 billion, driven by sales of collagen products, adaptogenic herbs and other botanical products, mushrooms and other immune support products, anti-inflammatory products such as turmeric, pre- and pro-biotics, multivitamins, and CBD and hemp products.

Natural Living: A $20.8-billion category comprising natural personal care and beauty care products, household products and pet care. In addition to pet care, mentioned above, product trends driving this category, which grew 6.5% in 2018, include household cleaners (double-digit growth), organic oral care and feminine care products. Referred to as a “self-care category,” Mast observed that consumers are embracing clean beauty and are paying more attention “not only to what they put into their bodies but also what they put on their bodies and bring into their homes.”

Pet Products: “Natural and organic pet products outperformed all other categories in 2018 – sales growth for the natural pet category was up 10.2% to $7 billion, reported Mast, who also shared that growth in natural and organic pet products far outpaced the 1.9% growth achieved in 2018 by the $26-billion conventional pet products market. “More than 70% of Millennials currently own a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association, and 86% of Millennials believe that natural and better-for-you pet food is vital for the health of their pet,” Mast added.

Sugar Ain’t So Sweet: Other “macro trends” driving the market include changing consumer perceptions around nutrition and healthy fats, and a growing awareness that “sugar isn’t all that sweet when it comes to health.” Diet trends include the Paleo and Keto diets, and convenience still rules, but products have to have great nutrition and taste. Consumers are also becoming increasingly concerned about packaging waste and are looking to support inventive business and ownership models, sustainable sourcing and packaging, and fair trade, socially responsible and mission driven brands.

Where to Invest?
Motley Fool writer Brian Stoffel says, “If you’re looking for the short answer as to who will be the big winners in the organic and natural food movements, the answer is simple: smaller, local organic farmers … and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).” The reasons, he says, include the trend that today’s Millennials – now the largest demographic spending group – want to purchase from brands that are more organic, small, and locally focused. Stoffel posits that when bigger brands buy out smaller natural and organic brands, today’s savvy consumer simply pivots to a different brand that better reflects their desires

On the other side of the coin, Stoffel’s reasoning behind considering online power house Amazon as a major player in natural and organic products is its position as owner of natural products retail pioneer Whole Foods Market, as well as its leadership position in the e-commerce world where it sells millions of natural and organic products at low margins.

In between are a number of publicly traded companies including distribution leader UNFI (NYSE:UNFI) and mid-size natural and organic products retail chains Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) and Natural Grocers (NYSE:NGVC). Seeing the shift in consumer preference to natural and organic, major retailers including Kroger (NYSE:KGR), Costco (NASDAQ:COST), Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and others have all become significant sellers of natural and organic products. Kroger, which reported more than $16 billion in natural and organic products sales in 2017 and double-digit growth of natural products over the past several years, also is a majority investor in Lucky’s Market, a rapidly growing, midsize natural and organic products retail chain with 35 stores in 11 states.

In the exploding market for hemp and CBD products, a handful of companies have emerged as market leaders, among them some publicly traded companies including Charlotte’s Web (NASDAQOTH:CWBHF), Elixinol (OTCMKTS:ELLXF), CV Sciences, sold under the brand name +CBD Oil (NASDAQOTH:CVSI), Isodiol International (CNXS:ISOL), Aurora Cannabis (OTCMKTS:ACBFF), Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC), and others.

As a closing piece of advice, independent natural foods retailer Philip Nabors, co-founder of the family owned Mustard Seed Market in Akron and Cleveland, OH, proffers that while an investment in market giant Amazon might seem attractive, it does not necessarily support local business and economies. “Green investors who want to place some of their funds in higher risk investments might want to consider investing in local businesses, where such investments can more directly impact local communities” – and also where individual investors can invest not only money, but potentially time, energy, resources, and relationships, and be rewarded with a more immediate connection in the communities in which they live, and in the long run as these businesses grow and build value, he says.

Steve Hoffman 6/3/19 Steve Hoffman 6/3/19

PERFECT MATCH! Naturcolor’s New Color Finder Tool Helps Consumers Personalize Their Own Hair Color Formula — and Mix It Up Themselves

Next Generation, High Quality, Herbal-Based Permanent Hair Color Gel Comes in 31 Hues, Allowing Users to Create Unique, Personalized Looks at Home

NAPA, CA (June 3, 2019) – Naturcolor, an herbal-based permanent hair color gel designed for chemically sensitive and ecologically minded people, has added a customizable Color Finder tool to its website that allows visitors to find perfect color matches based on their natural hair color, skin tone and other important factors. With the help of Naturcolor’s excellent How-To Guide and a Consumer Care Hotline to answer online shoppers’ questions, the groundbreaking company is taking the guesswork out of coloring hair at home.

“Easy to use and available 24/7, our new Color Finder gives users the confidence they need to choose the right hair color,” said Eric Gustafson, Naturcolor’s general manager. “This tool makes it possible for everyone—even people who may feel confused about mixing colors—to create a customized color that is unique to and ideal for them.”

Naturcolor offers an array of 31 different hues, giving users maximum flexibility in creating custom colors. After answering simple questions about their natural color, previous coloring, skin tone and color preferences, visitors are provided with recommendations for one or more colors or combinations of colors to help them achieve their desired result. When applicable, the results may also include mixing options, secondary colors that can be combined with the recommended products to achieve customized results—all while staying within the defined parameters of lightness and darkness, grey coverage, and tone preference.

Naturcolor products are handcrafted with care in small batches from the finest Italian pigments and plants such as burdock, gotu kola and hops that have been used for thousands of years to keep hair strong and supple and prevent hair loss, as well as rich shea butter to nourish it and leave it feeling silky smooth. Free of ammonia, resorcinol, and parabens, the products can be used repeatedly without damaging hair. They were recently featured in Whole Foods Magazine as a top seller in the anti-aging market.

“Naturcolor is intended for both men and women to discreetly color their own hair, and tools like the Color Finder make that simple and attainable,” Gustafson said. “In just one hour, you can add subtle highlights or dramatically change the color of your hair—without ever leaving the comfort of your home.”

Naturcolor was recently endorsed by Worldwide Business with kathy ireland®. View the full video here.

Naturcolor products are available online at https://naturcolor.com/shop/ and Amazon.com, and at leading natural products retail stores including Natural Grocers, Whole Foods Market, Vitamin Shoppe and others. For wholesale inquiries, contact us.

About Naturcolor
Naturcolor is an herbal-based permanent hair color gel designed to change or enhance one’s existing hair color while blending in gray. This high-quality product represents a new generation of hair colorings. It was formulated for those who are ecologically minded and may be coloring their hair for the first time. Learn more at www.naturcolor.com, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, 303.807.1042

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Steve Hoffman 5/31/19 Steve Hoffman 5/31/19

On the Organic Trail

Originally appeared in New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange, May 2019
By Steven Hoffman

In which the author spends the month of May visiting Whole Foods Market Global Headquarters in Austin, TX; EARTH University in Costa Rica, the world’s leading university of sustainable tropical agriculture; and Washington, DC, lobbying at OTA’s Organic Week on behalf of organic agriculture, industrial hemp and CBD.

Boulder, Colorado, is a pretty great place from which to run a public relations, communications and brand marketing agency dedicated to natural, organic, eco-friendly, hemp-centric and other mission-based brands. For a relatively small town, the concentration of natural products entrepreneurship and resources available for both startups and established businesses is like few other places (see Naturally Boulder).*

Yet, after a long winter, and having received a small handful of unexpected invitations, I packed my bags for a nearly month-long road trip that began with a visit in early May to Whole Foods Market’s global headquarters in Austin, TX (another “epicenter” of natural products; see Naturally Austin), to attend a unique brand innovation summit; and ended by participating in the Organic Trade Association’s Organic Week in Washington, DC. There, yours truly served as a speaker and sponsor of OTA’s annual policy conference, which included visits to congressional offices to lobby on behalf of organic agriculture and industrial hemp and CBD.

In between, I took advantage of a unique opportunity to travel to Costa Rica – a country in which I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 1970s – to visit and learn about a number of permaculture, regenerative organic and sustainable agriculture operations and educational institutions in a country that has taken the lead on sustainability and climate change in Latin America.

From Punta Mona, an educational permaculture farm reachable only by boat or hiking trail where the Caribbean Sea meets the coastal rainforest, and EARTH University, the world’s leading sustainable tropical agriculture institution drawing more than 400 students and researchers from over three dozen countries, our Costa Rica tour also took us to Finca Luna Nueva (New Moon Farm), a 300-acre biodynamic farm and eco-resort located adjacent to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, a 250,000-acre nature reserve at the foot of Arenal Volcano in the north of the country. There, Finca Luna Nueva’s founders are dedicated to promoting sustainable building and regenerative agriculture, and spreading the message worldwide about soil health, carbon sequestration and climate change.

This, then, is my brief tale, On the Organic Trail.

Boulder and Austin are not the only epicenters of natural products entrepreneurship in the country. Check out Naturally Chicago for companies and events in the Windy City. Note: Presence Marketing is a founding Sponsor of Naturally Chicago.

Whole Foods Market, Austin, TX – Brand Innovators Summit
With a lower pricing strategy and a renewed commitment to supporting brand innovation, Whole Foods Market hosted on May 2-3 Secrets to a Healthy Brand Strategy, an invitation-only summit that matched some of the world’s largest food companies with unique startup and emerging brands vying for attention online and on the shelf. Held at Whole Foods’ corporate headquarters in Austin, TX, and produced by Brand Innovators, the largest peer-to-peer community of brand marketers in America, the event featured an exploration of consumer behavior and technology and what it takes to build enduring healthy lifestyles and mission-based brands.

Former Whole Foods Market board member and Celestial Seasonings founder Mo Siegel opens the Brand Innovators summit in Austin on May 2

I was invited to the brand strategy summit after getting to know Michael Schall on a hiking trail during an earlier trip to Hill Country outside of Austin. Michael, Senior Coordinator of Global Growth and Business Development for Whole Foods Market, is also former CEO of Manischewitz Kosher Foods and Guiltless Gourmet. A very knowledgeable and experienced business leader and one heck-of-a nice person, after learning of my work, Michael insisted I attend. How could I possibly say no?

There, I met Wes Hurt, a recovering drug addict and founder of CLEAN Cause, a sparkling Yerba Mate beverage company founded in Austin in 2015 that donates 50% of its profits to support recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. The products are sold online and in select stores nationwide; nearly $300,000 in profits have been donated to date. I also spoke with Peter McGuinness, CMO of Chobani. While the company has an unsurpassed social mission, I asked Peter if Chobani is considering coming out with certified organic products, produced without the use of toxic, synthetic pesticides such as glyphosate, synthetic fertilizers, GMOs, antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones to serve a core organic consumer like me. While Chobani’s yogurt products are not produced organically, Peter mentioned the company is exploring some plant-based offerings made with organic ingredients – a positive move for people and the planet, in my respectful opinion. Other speakers included the founders and senior-level managers of Siete Foods, a Texas-based and family owned maker of grain free chips; Harmless Harvest, seller of premium certified organic coconut water; Jamba Juice; Pepsico; Sir Kensington’s; Vital Farms; Maple Hill; Health-Ade Kombucha; and more.

My takeaway: Competition is everywhere today, yet Whole Foods Market continues to be the mecca of natural and organic products – it is the place where the largest multinational corporations as well as local startups aspire to sell their products. And its association with Amazon, while infrequently mentioned during the conference, was certainly felt. In my perspective, the leadership at Whole Foods’ is energized and empowered to expand the company’s influence and reach and further enhance the bridge between brick and mortar and online retail. Whole Foods remains the gold standard in natural products retailing.

Costa Rica Organic Farm Tour
With a national greeting of “Pura Vida,” meaning “pure life,” Costa Ricans share a sunny attitude and gratitude for what they have. The government abolished the armed forces in 1948, and has since invested in healthcare and education. Costa Ricans welcome visitors from around the world; English is spoken and the dollar is accepted throughout the country, though being able to speak some Spanish is certainly a benefit. Costa Ricans, or “Ticos,” are very proud of their nation’s biodiversity and natural beauty. This past year, Costa Rica took the lead on sustainability and climate change in Latin America. During my excursion, we were able to visit the following organic and sustainable agriculture locations.

**Herbalist Sarit Bianca at Punta Mona in Costa Rica**

Punta Mona – South of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, a delightful, off the beaten track, Rasta-style community on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, beyond road’s end, lies Punta Mona, a 100-acre permaculture outpost just 10 miles north of the Panama border, reachable only by boat or by foot on a trail cutting through eight kilometers of primary rainforest. (The boat ride was a blast; during our trip it was much too muddy to hike the trail.) Powered by solar panels, Punta Mona is located right off the beach, and it is also decidedly off the grid. Founded by father and son organic products entrepreneurs and permaculture advocates Norman and Stephen Brooks, Punta Mona draws visitors and volunteers from all over the world to tour and/or work in the farm’s lush and diverse fruit and vegetable gardens, community kitchen, herbal products laboratory, and all other aspects of managing the farm and “rustic” resort. If you go, be prepared to “rough it.” But if you can handle rainforest-style basic camp conditions, the natural beauty, organic agriculture, good clean healthy plant-based food, and biodiversity simply cannot be beat. Stephen Brooks also is founder of La Ecovilla, a planned permaculture community located northwest of Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose.

**Students from nearly 40 countries attend EARTH University for degrees in mission-based, sustainable tropical agriculture**

EARTH University – On the eastern coastal lowlands outside the town of Guacimo, Costa Rica, among massive commercial banana and pineapple plantations, is a 10,000-acre nature preserve and internationally renowned sustainable agriculture college, EARTH University. You may have heard of EARTH University, or at least its sustainable fair-trade bananas, sold in Whole Foods Market stores across the U.S. Established in 1986 as an international nonprofit agricultural education and research institution, EARTH university draws more than 430 students from over three dozen countries for a full, four-year degree in Agricultural Sciences. Led by an international faculty, EARTH University’s innovative educational approach has been preparing entrepreneurially minded young people from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and other regions to contribute to the sustainable development of their home communities while constructing a prosperous and just global society. According to its leadership, EARTH University offers a world-class scientific and technological education emphasizing ethical entrepreneurship and a strong socio-environmental commitment. Traveling with lifelong friend and colleague Jim Frank, an estate tax advisor and former fraternity brother from my Penn State University days, we were treated to lunch and extensive tours by a number of EARTH researchers, faculty and staff who generously took the time to show us sustainable banana and cacao research and production, student test plots, state of the art facilities and more. Frankly, there is no place like EARTH University. The campus is open to visitors; consider it in your travel plans if you are a tropical sustainable agriculture geek, like me. One additional note: our visit included a stop at Ecolirios, a boutique eco-resort, restaurant and modern architectural treasure located on a beautifully landscaped plateau in the heart of the mountainous rainforest up a steeply inclined, low-gear, four-wheel drive road. A bumpy ride, but once you get there, the experience is well worth it.

**Finca Luna Nueva (New Moon Farm) in Peñas Blancas near Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica**

Finca Luna Nueva – With a newly completed, open-air, poolside restaurant built from locally sourced bamboo and other sustainable materials, plus comfortable cabins, bungalows, yoga studio and common areas located throughout the property, Finca Luna Nueva in Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica, is a jewel in the rainforest and the biodynamic pride and joy of New Chapter’s former CEO Tom Newmark and his wife Terry, owners of Finca Luna Nueva along with their longtime business partner and farm manager Steven Farrell. With its neighbor and program partner, Brave Earth, Finca Luna Nueva offers educational workshops in sustainable building and regenerative agriculture, corporate retreats, yoga retreats, and a world-class eco-resort in the heart of one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Located adjacent to the 250,000-acre Children’s Eternal Rainforest preserve near the Arenal Volcano, visitors to Finca Luna Nueva can take farm and cacao tours and view toucans, sloths, and other wildlife along the property’s hiking trails. Finca Luna Nueva was named among the Ten Best Eco-lodges in Costa Rica by Bookmundi in January 2019. Co-owner Tom Newmark co-authored a recent article in Yes! Magazine on the importance of soil health, carbon sequestration and climate change. Tom, a board member of Greenpeace USA, also is co-founder of The Carbon Underground, a nonprofit organization committed to drawing carbon out of the atmosphere and into the soil to help mitigate climate change. Spoiler alert: my agency, Compass Natural, compiles a quarterly e-newsletter for Finca Luna Nueva. For more on Finca Luna Nueva, visit here or contact me at steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

OTA’s Organic Week, Washington, DC
Capping off a marathon month of travel was a visit to Washington, DC, on May 20-23, where my agency, Compass Natural, was invited by the Organic Trade Association to help plan and present an educational track focused on the growing market for organic hemp, CBD and related products as part of OTA’s annual Organic Week policy conference.

**Carla Vernon, President of General Mills’ Natural & Organic Unit, speaks on May 22 at OTA’s Organic Week in Washington, D.C.**

At the conference, OTA announced that sales of organic products in the U.S. surpassed $50 billion, growing 6.3% to reach a record $52.5 billion in 2018. Almost 6% (5.7%) of all food sold in the U.S. is now organic, driven in large part by demand for organic produce, dairy, plant-based products, dietary supplements, textiles and fiber. “Organic is now considered mainstream. But the attitudes surrounding organic are anything but status quo,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the OTA. “In 2018, there was a notable shift in the mindset of those working in organic toward collaboration and activism to move the needle on the role organic can play in sustainability and tackling environmental initiatives.”

As part of OTA’s Organic Week, I was scheduled to visit several congressional offices on Capitol Hill, lobbying on behalf of organic food and farming and industrial hemp, CBD and related products. The staff at the offices of Colorado Senators Michael Bennett and Cory Gardner were supportive of industrial hemp in our meetings, and in alignment with Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ goal of furthering Colorado’s leadership in industrial hemp, as were staff leaders in the offices of Colorado Representatives Joe Neguse and Diana DeGette. However, staff at the offices of Idaho Congressmen Russell Fulcher and Mike Simpson deferred to their state’s legislature when it came to my questions regarding Idaho’s seizure in January of a container shipment of industrial hemp from a licensed grower in Oregon bound for processing in Colorado, despite the 2018 federal Farm Bill declaring that interstate transport and commerce of hemp-derived products is now legal throughout the U.S.

At the seminar, longtime organic farmer Chris Jagger, owner of Blue Fox Farm in Oregon, shared how he began growing hemp three years ago. Instead of planting hemp densely, like they do for fiber production where tall stalks and little foliage are desired, Chris farms his hemp like a specialty crop, or “like vegetables,’ he says, to cultivate the delicate hemp flowers for CBD extraction. Currently, a small number of organic certifiers, including OneCert, CCOF and MOSA are certifying farms for organic hemp production, and rumor has it some other major certifiers will soon follow.

Organic agriculture is a bright spot in the U.S. farm economy, continuing to grow at a rate more than double the growth rate of the overall U.S. food market. According to new OTA data, the number of organic farms grew by 39% while the total number of farms in the U.S. shrank by 3% between 2012 and 2017. Organic products can now be found in more than 82% of U.S. homes, and in some states, including California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and my home state of Colorado, organic products are in over 90% of U.S. households. Now, after a month of travel, that’s news worth coming home to.

Noteworthy Events

Grain Place Foundation 2019 Field Day, July 13, 2019, Marquette, NE – Help preserve the legacy of the 300-acre Grain Place organic farm in Eastern Nebraska, which first went organic in 1953 and has been shepherded by the Vetter family ever since. Join over 100 organic farmers for a tour of the Grain Place and a keynote luncheon presentation by renowned organic farming pioneer Bob Quinn and Liz Carlisle, co-authors of Grain by Grain. Learn more. To sponsor the 2019 Field Day with a tax-deductible contribution, contact me at steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

Southern Hemp Expo, Sept. 6-7, 2019, Franklin, TN – Learn about the exploding market for products derived from industrial hemp – from bioplastics to CBD – at the 2nd annual Southern Hemp Expo, the largest hemp exposition and conference in the Eastern U.S., featuring an investors summit, business conference, agriculture symposium and a full exhibition half. Visit www.SouthernHempExpo.com. To exhibit, sponsor and for more info, contact me at steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

Steven Hoffman, is Managing Director of Compass Natural, dedicated to providing brand marketing, public relations, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic and sustainable products businesses. A former agricultural extension agent and also former Editorial Director of New Hope Network’s natural products trade magazine and trade show division, Hoffman brings 30+ years of communications, sales and brand marketing expertise to his clientele. Contact steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

Photos: Compass Natural

Steve Hoffman 5/29/19 Steve Hoffman 5/29/19

One Organic Farmer Treats Hemp Grown for CBD Like a “Specialty Vegetable Crop”

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 1.32.31 PM.png

Originally Appeared in Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter, May 2019
By Steven Hoffman

Frankly, that’s not very good for the environment or for the oncoming climate crisis, as conventional agriculture is one of the largest non-point sources of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contributing to global warming, and fracking releases massive quantities of methane – another potent GHG – into the atmosphere. On the other hand, organically grown hemp can actually sequester carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back in the soil where it belongs, helping to keep CO2 and other noxious GHGs out of the atmosphere.

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