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Organic produce sales have registered significant growth on a year-over-year basis for many years and there appears to be no end in sight. At least that is the view of Darrel Beyer, the organic sales specialist for Oxnard, CA-based Boskovich Farms.
“Every year, we are expanding our program and every year we have to find more product and more items to sell,” he said. “We have a strong program. The snowball just keeps on getting bigger,” Beyer said.
Darrel Beyer, organic sales specialist for Boskovich Farms
Kale is the number one seller, with mainline items such as green onions, celery, spinach and chard also racking up sales volume. But Beyer said there is also good action on the other 50-plus organic SKUs that the firm offers. Boskovich first started selling organic vegetables about six or seven years ago with Beyer coming aboard as organic sales manager three years ago with the charge to grow the program. “Initially we wanted to mirror the conventional side, but now we are a completely different animal. We are always looking for items to add to our list,” Beyer said.
Kale is the number one organic seller for Boskovich Farms.
He said that organic sales are strongest during the October through June time period when organic vegetables from the West are king of the hill. During the summer months, when there are local deals all over the country, sales lag. “We need to add some organic fruit SKUs for the summer. We’re also looking at a summer squash deal. We need to add more items,” Beyer said.
As a testament to how far he will look for product, Beyer had just welcomed his first container of organic turmeric into the firm’s warehouse. “We brought our first container in a couple of weeks ago and our first pallet only a few weeks before that. We are the only ones bringing in turmeric from Samoa and Fiji,” he said, adding that the often-touted health benefits of this spice-producing root have turned it into a mainstream item. He believes the fresh organic version of the root will continue to gain popularity as ground turmeric has been associated with high levels of lead in some instances.
The one drawback is that organic turmeric is very expensive. “It’s $220 for a 30 pound box. Some retailers are selling 5 ounces for $6. We are looking at different packaging to find the best way to deliver it to retail. It’s not an item for the price conscious,” he quipped.
At Boskovich Farms, he said conventional and organic sales are handled separately. Sometimes, a truck is loaded with SKUs from both the conventional and organic cooler, but that is not the norm. “We all have our own customers,” he said.
Beyer said most of his sales do tend to be to retailers on both coasts rather than in the middle of the country. However, he said organic consumers are spread out all over the country, and his experiences have more to do with the way produce is distributed rather than with the lack of organic consumers in any particular area. “There are some top line produce distributors in Ohio and Kentucky that are serving all those smaller stores throughout the Midwest. I’m sure they are buying organic produce, they just aren’t buying it from me,” he said.
Speaking generally of the organic produce sector, Beyer said most SKUs still command a premium over their conventional counterparts. “Do we need that premium? I don’t know if we really need it but right now it is really, really helpful. As time goes on and we sell more and supply increases, the price is going to come down. Hopefully we can maintain a happy medium,” Beyer said.
