PORTLAND, OR - Organically Grown Company (OGC), one of the nation’s leading distributors of certified organic fresh produce, has promoted Brad Stark to Vice President of Sales. In his new role, Stark will lead OGC’s sales strategy while strengthening partnerships across the company to create value for customers and growers and advance OGC’s mission to grow the organic agriculture movement.

Stark brings decades of produce industry experience and a career spanning farming, packing, sales, business development and team leadership, a press release stated. A fourth-generation produce professional, he began working at age 11 in his family’s citrus orchards near Porterville, California. After college, he returned to the family business, where he managed packing operations and sales.

“Brad brings the perfect combination of deep produce knowledge, strong industry relationships and a genuine commitment to organic agriculture,” said Brenna Davis, CEO of Organically Grown Company. “He understands this business from farm to customer, and he leads with collaboration, accountability and care. As OGC continues to grow and evolve, Brad is the right leader to help us strengthen our sales organization and create even more value for our customers and growers.”

Since joining OGC in 2025 as a Regional Account Manager, Stark has played a central role in the company’s growth in the California market, with a particular focus on growing direct-to-store delivery in the Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Arcata/Eureka markets. He has also helped onboard customers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and contributed to national account strategy.

Prior to OGC, Stark held sales and leadership roles with several produce and supply-chain companies, including organic farming pioneers Jacobs Farm / Del Cabo and Awe Sum Organics. During two tenures totaling more than a decade with Jacobs Farm / Del Cabo, he led daily sales operations, managed a book of business exceeding $25 million and developed strategies and programs to grow key accounts. At Awe Sum Organics, Stark managed organic citrus and kiwifruit and helped establish significant new customer relationships.

“Ever since I was introduced to OGC, I hoped I’d have the opportunity to work here someday. Stepping into the VP of Sales role truly feels like a dream job,” said Stark. “I’m incredibly excited to work alongside this team to create value for our customers and growers, grow our business and, ultimately, help more people choose organic.”

Stark holds a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from Northern Arizona University. During his studies, he completed summer internships on the Hopi Reservation, where he learned dry-farming techniques and helped revitalize spring-water-irrigated gardens in Bacavi, Arizona.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Fresh produce has long been considered one of online grocery’s toughest categories. Concerns about freshness, damage, and letting someone else select fruits and vegetables have all presented barriers to purchase. Consumer research from Fusion, a leading business-to-business marketing agency serving the fresh produce and grocery retail industries, suggests produce may be playing a growing role in shoppers' decision to buy groceries online.

In Fusion's Online Produce Shopping study, 62% of online grocery shoppers said fresh produce is a leading reason they shop for groceries online, a shift from produce's reputation as one of e-commerce's toughest categories. ⁽²⁾

Online Grocery Continues to Grow

The shift comes as online grocery takes a larger role in how consumers shop. U.S. online grocery sales grew 21.5% year over year in July 2026, according to Brick Meets Click. ⁽¹⁾ E-grocery sales are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.9% through 2029, when online is expected to account for 17% of U.S. grocery sales.

As the channel grows, Fusion’s research found that 97% of online grocery shoppers usually include fresh produce in their orders, a sign that produce has moved from an occasional add-on to a mainstay of the digital cart.

Confidence Is Growing

Trust has traditionally been one of the biggest barriers to purchasing fresh produce online. Those concerns have not disappeared, but confidence appears to be improving.

The study found that confidence in buying fresh produce online has increased for 65% of respondents.

Satisfaction is also high, with 92% saying they are mostly or completely satisfied with the fresh produce they receive in their online orders.

"Shoppers are telling us they no longer see fresh produce as a liability online, and retailers who invest in packaging and transparency are the ones earning that trust," said Matt Schraut, vice president of analytics and client services at Fusion.

Convenience helps explain the appeal, with 56% saying buying fresh produce online saves them time and 54% finding it more convenient than shopping in-store.

The experience is also increasingly mobile. More than 90% of respondents said they place their online grocery orders using their phones.

That mobile-first behavior has put greater importance on strong product imagery, clear descriptions, freshness information and easy-to-understand substitution options that help shoppers evaluate quality without seeing the product in person.

Packaging and Freshness Guarantees Matter

Getting shoppers to purchase produce online is only part of the equation. Maintaining confidence depends on the experience that follows.

Packaging emerged as the leading opportunity identified in Fusion's research. Packaging that keeps produce fresh longer would increase confidence for 45% of respondents, while 43% pointed to packaging that protects fruits and vegetables from bruising or damage during delivery.

Quality assurances can provide another layer of confidence. A clear freshness guarantee or refund policy would make 42% of respondents more confident purchasing fresh produce online.

For the produce industry, these findings point to tangible opportunities to strengthen the online experience through packaging designed for delivery, clear quality guarantees and digital merchandising that helps shoppers evaluate products without seeing them in person.

Retail Investment Reinforces the Shift

Retailers are investing heavily in fresh grocery delivery. Amazon, for example, has expanded Same-Day Delivery of fresh groceries to more than 2,300 U.S. cities and towns. In markets where the service is available, perishables now account for nine of the 10 most-ordered Same-Day Delivery items, with bananas, avocados and blueberries among the most popular.

What It Means for Produce

As more grocery trips move between physical and digital channels, produce brands, commodity boards and retailers need to consider how shoppers evaluate freshness, quality and value when they cannot see or touch the product.

Fresh produce helped define the traditional grocery perimeter. As online grocery continues to grow, the industry has an opportunity to make produce just as important to the digital grocery experience.

Retailers or produce companies seeking additional information about Fusion’s Online Produce Shopping study may contact Matt Schraut ([email protected]) at Fusion. Further details are also available at gowithfusion.com.

Sources: 1. Brick Meets Click, eGrocery Sales Trends, July 2026; 2. Fusion’s Online Produce Shopping study

FOLSOM, CA - The California Walnut Commission (CWC) praises the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for finalizing its purchase of California walnuts through Section 32 authority. On Sept. 25, USDA announced it has officially awarded contracts for 12 million pounds of California walnut kernels (28 million pounds in-shell equivalent), valued at nearly $30 million, following the department's intent-to-purchase announcement in August.

"We're grateful for USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Dudley Hoskins, AMS Administrator Erin Morris and her team for seeing this purchase through," said Robert Verloop, CEO of the California Walnut Commission. "They have consistently supported American agriculture and the California walnut industry, especially when we have been faced with excess inventories and challenging global markets. With this contract, it brings the total 2026 Section 32 purchases to $45 million, representing nearly 17 million pounds of California walnuts kernels distributed through food banks and reaching people who need access to healthy foods."

The purchase offers timely support as the industry harvests this year's crop while finishing shipments of last year's crop — the second largest on record.

"Lowering the carry-in inventory from 2025 is a critical step to putting our family farms and local rural communities on firmer footing," Verloop said. "This purchase is a positive boost that helps set the stage for a stronger, more balanced market as growers and handlers kick off the new selling season."

NORWICH, UK & FRESNO, CA - Global produce labeling specialist Sinclair is focusing on one of the fresh produce industry's next packaging challenges: helping shoppers understand exactly how to dispose of compostable fruit labels. With the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) now applicable across the EU and individual fruit & vegetable labels needing to be compostable from February 2028, the company is developing clearer end-of-life messaging to turn compostability from a packaging claim into a practical shopper action.

Independent research backs up what Sinclair has observed directly across its global customer base. A 2023 U.S. study by the Composting Consortium and the Biodegradable Products Institute found that up to 49% of consumers struggle to distinguish between "compostable" and "biodegradable" claims. Meanwhile, in the UK, a consumer trial run by the Compostable Coalition found that the number of households correctly disposing of compostable packaging increased five-fold once they were given clear, consistent labelling and instructions.

For Sinclair, these findings have been a call to action. The company developed T55, a dual certified industrial and home compostable fruit label now used by more than 400 customers globally, and is researching how to make end-of-life instructions clearer on compostable fruit labels. Direct phrases such as "Dispose in compost" remove guesswork by telling shoppers what to do at the exact moment they decide how to dispose of the label.

"We have proven that compostable fruit labeling works commercially and at scale across major formats and markets," said Duncan Jones, Senior Marketing Manager at Sinclair. "The next challenge is the three seconds at the bin, when shoppers need a clear instruction rather than another packaging claim, symbol or mark to interpret."

The focus comes as European regulation moves in the same direction. The PPWR, which entered into force on 11 February 2025 and became generally applicable across the EU on 12 August 2026, requires fruit and vegetable labels applied directly to produce to be industrially compostable across the EU by 12 February 2028. A separate harmonized EU label, expected no earlier than 12 August 2028, is intended to help shoppers identify whether packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable.

For fruit labels, that ambition creates a distinct communications challenge. Labels are deliberately small (often used as part of a packaging reduction strategy), so any disposal message must be visible and clear without compromising essential consumer, brand and retailer information.

Sinclair supports the move toward clearer disposal guidance but believes fruit labels need a more agile approach than standard packaging formats. The company is working to build simple, actionable guidance into compostable fruit labels ahead of the harmonized labelling deadline.

For an industry that has spent two decades solving the material side of compostable packaging, Sinclair's message is that the next phase of progress will be behavioral, not technical.

"A harmonized EU label will help," Jones added. "But shopper habits will take time to change. Because composting rules vary locally, and fruit labels are small, an agile mechanism to tailor disposal instructions to local market requirements will be needed to guide shoppers across the EU and global markets."