Organic Distribution During COVID-19

By Melody Meyer

Organic growers, shippers, distributors and the USDA are doing their best to deliver certified organic produce during the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. Distributors like Albert’s Fresh Produce experienced skyrocketing buying habits in the first weeks of the pandemic, with shelf-stable items like organic onions, yams and potatoes in high demand and elevated FOB pricing.

“The week of 3/16 it was like the sky was falling with panic buying the entire week. We couldn’t keep up with booking everything we needed.  The week of 3/23 things went back almost to business as usual, but it’s to be determined how the next few weeks will play out,” an organic buyer from Albert’s told me.

“Items such as avocados, bananas, berries, citrus and kiwi prices are reacting like they normally would this time of the year.  But the big question is with the COVID-19 impacting so many people’s livelihoods, how will luxury items like stone fruit, berries and cherries fare as they come into season?” the buyer asked.

Marliese McWherter, creative marketing manager, Lakeside Organic Produce

Growers like Lakeside Organic Garden Creative are also experiencing rapidly changing markets.  Lakesides’ Marliese McWherter, creative marketing manager, said, “In the beginning, we saw a huge surge in buying, we had a couple of record-breaking weeks. The last two weeks we have seen a drastic change at the retail level as food service is trying to re-pack into retail packs.”

McWherter added, “Online purchasing has skyrocketed, and our home delivery customers are still buying strong. We are less influenced by the foodservice repack as we think it will affect conventional more than organic.”

Lakeside harvesters maintaining six-foot distance

Many organic shippers are also putting extra cautious protocols in place in their fields, warehouses and packing lines.  McWherter said, “We have re-strategized our protocols to ensure the well-being of our customers, community and employees.”  She listed some of the changes the company has introduced the company has introduced:

• Drivers aren’t being allowed inside warehouses and shipping personnel are signing off on BOL’s on behalf of drivers, so pens aren’t shared.
• The driver lounge and employee break room are closed, and no more than three people are allowed at the front desk at any given time.
• Those who have asked to work from home and feasibly can, are doing so. Any employees who calls in sick or comes to work with cold or flu-like symptoms are instructed to seek medical attention and provide documentation before returning to work.
• Employees must maintain a 6-foot distance during harvesting and a bleach spray mixture is applied on all touch points in field sanitary units.”
• Lakeside Organic Gardens has also increased their produce donations to local food banks and support services during this time of need.

At the same time, he U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to be “open for business”.  The National Organic Program (NOP) is no exception as NOP staff are working from home and able carry out their day-to-day job duties. Organic enforcement, oversight and protecting organic integrity remains their top priority.

Organic certifiers and inspectors are quickly working to develop industry-wide COVID-19 contingency plans for carrying out organic inspections under federal, state, and local travel restrictions.

Certifiers have many options they can apply including conducting inspections under careful and restricted conditions, flexibility for temporarily postponing renewal inspections and verifying compliance of an operation through remote means such as virtual inspection or desk audit.

The USDA-AMS is extending the expiration date of some USDA audit certifications scheduled to expire on or before May 31, 2020, by 60 days. This will allow AMS to concentrate resources on providing food safety verification audits to new USDA audit programs who require certification to move product into commerce.

The extension applies to operations certified under the USDA Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Domestic Origin Verification and Plant Systems Audit Programs.