A new report issued by the California Department of Public Health’s State Organic Program shows staggering growth in organic product sales between 2020 and 2021, from $14.8 billion to $34.5 billion.
Median annual gross sales also more than doubled, from $170,000 in 2020 to $350,000 in 2021. Analysis of registrants by sales volume reveals that the number of registrants paying the highest fee—700 for businesses with gross sales above $2.5 million—increased from 603 in 2020 to 690 in 2021.
At the same time, the number of organic registrants with the State Organic Program declined from 2,777 in 2020 to 2,606 in 2021.
This new information is timely as CCOF pursues legislation to make needed changes to the law that regulates organic processors in California.
The bill, AB 1870, is authored by Assemblymember Mark Stone and co-authored by Assemblymember Marc Levine and Senator John Laird. It will require that CDPH
- develop an online registration and payment option for the State Organic Program,
- reduce the number of forms required,
- bring transparency to program costs by reporting expenditures and revenues,
- remove bad actors from the sector as quickly as possible by creating a procedure for clearing complaints that cannot be resolved within the 90-day time frame required by law.
AB 1870 is scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Agriculture Committee on April 27. CCOF is still collecting signatures on a letter of support.
Please join CCOF in demonstrating that California’s organic community is united in supporting an updated State Organic Program. To sign the letter of support, send your company logo and an electronic signature to Senior Outreach and Policy Specialist Jane Sooby by April 8 at jsooby@ccof.org
Feel free to contact her for more information via email or by phone at (831) 425-7205.