Real Organic Project signs Groundbreaking Partnership with Germany’s Naturland

(From l. to r., Steffen Reese, CEO of Naturland; Linley Dixon, co-director of the Real Organic Project; Dave Chapman, co-director of the Real Organic Project; Hans Bartelme, vice president of Naturland. Photos courtesy of Naturland.)

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When the Real Organic Project (ROP) launched in 2018, small organic farmers across the country saw it as their best — and only — hope to save the movement that they created.

After years of fruitless appeals to the National Organic Standards Board to have the rules enforced, no longer could these pioneers sit by and witness both their own financial demise and the weakening of industry standards, with the USDA turning a blind eye to organic factory animal farms and continuing to allow hydroponics in organic, a growing method that clearly violates section 6513 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.

Just the other day, ROP took a gigantic step forward to accomplishing its goal by signing a groundbreaking partnership with Germany’s Naturland, an entity that certifies over 140,000 organic farms around the world.

“Without question, this joint venture will help mainstream ROP,” said Dave Chapman, co-director of the Real Organic Project. “Naturland, which is 40 years old and also a farmer-led organization, has the best reputation of any add-on label that I have ever come across, and working together only makes both organizations stronger.”

“There are more than three million organic farmers outside of the U.S., and what happens there impacts us. Surely, what happens here impacts them. Ultimately, this partnership was driven by the USDA’s unwillingness and inability to protect organic integrity, something that affects organic farmers everywhere.”

BRANDS CAN SOON BE CERTIFIED

The Real Organic Project is an add-on label that requires USDA organic certification as a baseline and then prohibits things such as organic factory farms, hydroponics and split organic farms (part of the farm being organic, part of the farm being conventional/not in transition). What makes ROP really stand out is that its executive, standards and advisory boards are a who’s who in the history of organic farming and rulemaking in the U.S.

Until this point, ROP has been squarely focused on certifying organic farms, of which it has certified over 1,000 farms and at zero cost to the farmers. While some ROP-certified products can be found at select coops, independent natural grocers and national supermarket chains across the country, they are not widely available just yet.

This partnership with Naturland aims to change that.

Not only will it have a processing standard, opening it up to consumer packaged goods companies who wish to get certified, but it will allow ingredients from both ROP and Naturland-certified farms.

Given Naturland’s massive presence around the world, U.S.-based organic brands can tap into an already-certified, large organic supply chain, and these same brands can also encourage their international suppliers to get Naturland certified if they are not already. Furthermore, once the domestic market develops for ROP products, it will help support international farmers seeking to reach U.S. consumers.

Having been in place for decades, the standards of Naturland actually go beyond the Real Organic Project. The certification has standards related to human rights, child labor, worker and animal welfare, water and biodiversity.

“When we discuss standards, the issues are always — what is the positive gain for the environment and animals, and how can this be translated to work of the farmer,” said Steffen Reese, CEO of Naturland. “We feel very comfortable with the people running ROP and that we share a similar philosophy.”

BUILDING AWARENESS WILL BE THE CHALLENGE

In approximately two months, an executive director for this new joint venture will be in place, and at that point, organic companies seeking ROP certification can begin the application process.

While there is no question that ROP will be very appealing to both consumers and brands, as dedicated organic advocates will be drawn to higher standards, the key challenge remains educating the marketplace about the certification.

So far, ROP has done an outstanding job of building awareness of its certification among small and mid-size organic farmers. However, in the U.S., the average organic consumer and most organic industry professionals are not familiar with ROP. The same could certainly be said for Naturland.

But the reality is that every organic add-on label has to start from somewhere, and the people involved in this joint venture understand the road ahead and are undaunted.

“Naturland is 40 years old and in our first two decades, we had to knock on the doors of retailers and processors to explain our advantages. Now, retailers approach us wanting to work together. In the U.S., we know that we will have to knock on doors again, and ultimately, it will be a question of what the consumer wants.”

Without a doubt, organic shoppers do not want organic CAFO milk and eggs, or organic berries grown in plastic buckets of water. They are simply not aware that this is what they are paying a premium for at the supermarket.

“The biggest mistake we made in the organic movement was not having add-on labels from Day 1 of the USDA’s National Organic Program,” put forth Dave Chapman. “This way, the USDA could establish a baseline, and the add-on label could have ensured that there was no deviation from what the organic pioneers established.”

With gratitude, Max Goldberg, Founder