MONTEREY, CA - On the tails of this year’s Organic Produce Summit, many left feeling awestruck and inspired to build more bridges that will bring consumers to the organic side of produce. As companies make their way home and get back into the swing of things, many are wondering who took home the award for the Organic Innovations Showcase. A&A Organic Farms of Watsonville, California, walked away from this year’s summit as a winner for the use of new recyclable packaging made from sustainable materials for its product line of organic fresh produce items.
“We experienced a great OPS 2018. We were able to show off our now award-winning Ready Cycle packaging as well as the other options we have available. The crowd was excited to see our lineup of organic produce and the packaging options we offer. The Summit attracts our customers entire staff, not just the buyers, and I feel it really opens their eyes when the sales side of our customers’ team sees what we have to offer. So often buyers are so busy that every option may not make it to their sales team to explore and promote. It was a great to meet them this year and show off the entire lineup,” A&A Organic Farms President Andy Martin shares with me. “Winning this award is very meaningful to us. We felt the need to get a more environmentally sound packaging option for our customers. The fact that our industry peers voted us as the most innovative shows us we are correct in our thinking and they agree. The industry wants to make this shift and we are happy to be a part of that. Our hope is that the larger retailer will be able to change the vision of what a package must look like and allow the consumers to choose. The social media feedback on this package has been incredible. This feedback is from the end user saying, ‘Finally, THANK YOU! We have been waiting for this option.’ Our thanks to the industry peers for voting for us and supporting this transition, we are excited to grow this option with them.”
Overall, the event went off with booming success that could be felt well beyond awards. This year’s summit offered seemingly unparalleled excitement from attendees, as we previously reported.
“We are thrilled with the response to the third year of OPS,” President Susan Canales said, according to a press release. “We worked hard to achieve the right balance of education, information, and networking. Promoting organics and connecting people—that’s the goal, and we think we more than achieved it.”
The excitement was felt by all those participating in the event—from producers to retailers, companies left feeling fulfilled and ready for more.
“This was an incredible show—OPS rocked! I have gone to a lot of summits and this one was one of the best I have ever attended. The show had great energy, was very intimate, and lots of fun. I will be back every year to enjoy my old friends and new business partners. Go organic Go!” President of Albertsons’ Own Brands Geoff White shared.
Congratulations to the A&A Organic Farms team on your tremendous achievement. We look forward to seeing how your innovation will push the boundaries for organic fresh produce forward in new and exciting ways.
