Companies getting organic certification undergo detailed, rigorous process

BOULDER — A cheerful cartoon cow, with an “organic” banner tucked between her

hooves, skips across all the product packaging for dairy company Horizon Organic Dairy.

The cow appears to be smiling broadly, and with good reason. Though Horizon has been in business only since 1991, sales for the year just ended are expected to be close to $50 million, according to Liz Marr, manager of consumer communications.

Marr, who is also a registered dietitian, says the company now employs more than 50 staff and sources its totally organic dairy produce from 7,000 cows. And it’s the No. 1 organic dairy in the country for fluid milk, she says.

Horizon is just one of many outstanding organic success stories from this region. Organic food, once regarded as little more than a passing fad favored by hairy hippies and their flaky camp followers, has become mainstream, and nowhere more so than in Boulder County.

Stroll around most large supermarkets, and you’ll easily find a wide variety of organic produce. In addition, customers can choose to shop at several stores, such as Alfalfa’s and Wild Oats, dedicated solely to all things naturally grown and produced.

Organic food is generally produced in chemical-free conditions: Only certain approved natural materials and methods may be used, for example in the control of pests and disease. That means no commercial fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides or herbicides, no artificial preservatives, growth hormones or irradiation.

The resulting so-called “clean foods” are increasingly in demand.

Whether for reasons of health and nutrition, freshness and flavor, or out of concern for their environment, Americans spent $4 billion on organic food in 1997.

Marr believes current consumers are more educated and affluent than ever before.

“They are concerned about such things as the effects of pesticides and antibiotics in the food chain. People today just do not want to take chances with their health,” Marr says.

Steven Hoffman, managing partner of Natural Business Communications, a Boulder-based publishing company that specializes in the natural products industry, also sees the growth first-hand.

“There’s no doubt that people increasingly want organic food, and the market is growing at a huge rate,” he says. “People are looking for minimum pesticide residue in their food, and at

the same time they want to know it was grown using an environmentally friendly and safe system.”

In response to this demand, producers and growers are crowding onto the organic bandwagon. But who sets the standards and, equally important, who monitors them? And is it just too easy for anyone to claim organic certification?

It’s definitely not easy, according to Sheldon Romer, president of Rudi’s Bakery, which a few months ago became the first wholesale bakery in Colorado to formally certify its products organic.

Romer says his company decided to anticipate new federal legislation expected to be finalized either this year or next. Because once the new federal legislation is passed, anyone claiming their product is organic will have to be certified by a reputable third-party source or risk prosecution.

Rudi’s Bakery, which is located on Walnut Street, went to one of the top certification firms in San Diego, paid a $3,500 fee and submitted to what Romer describes as a “very detailed, rigorous process.”

The firm checked all the bakery’s recipes, ingredients, procedures and organic certificates, inspecting the facility and suggesting a number of changes.

“These guys don’t mess about,” Romer says. “You can’t be something like 90 percent organic. It’s all or nothing.”

Certification, which guarantees the organic integrity of the bakery, has to be renewed every year. Romer says the standards used are well-known, having been established over the years by a number of state agencies and outlined in the proposed legislation.

Chris Burke is in the thick of the organic industry. He has been growing organic herbs and vegetables for eight years and for the past six years has been director of the popular Boulder County Farmers Market.

About 60 growers — roughly one-third of them certified organic — bring their products to the market in Boulder each Saturday, attracting in their wake crowds of more than 15,000 every week. That success has inspired Chris and his wife Michele to set up two similar weekend

markets in Denver.

Burke doubts there are many unethical “organic” growers around. He believes the present system of controls and state certification is working well in Colorado, which has largely adopted the stringent standards set out in Californian legislation.

Colorado officials provide inspectors, there are lists of prohibited and approved materials growers can use, and organizations such as the Colorado Organic Producers Association and the Organic Trade Association play a positive part in monitoring the industry, Burke says.

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