4Earth Farms expands output, introduces new organic programs

Commerce, Calif.-based 4Earth Farms has several new organic programs this year, said Mark Munger, vice president of the company.

“We have invested heavily and more than doubled our holiday organic green bean production in the Coachella Valley to better meet consumer holiday demand,” Munger said. “We are also adding organic broccoli and cauliflower florets, as well as organic halved Brussels sprouts and organic shaved Brussels sprouts in November.”

The company’s overall organic supply is up about 10% compared with the same time a year ago, Munger said.

Nearly 50% of 4Earth Farms’ sales are organic produce, he said. 
“Our largest organic items are Brussels sprouts, green beans, snap peas, zucchini, mini cucumbers, and mini sweet peppers,” he said, noting that the company grows and distributes about 50 other organic produce items.

For the next few months, Munger said 4Earth Farms will focus on the launch of its new organic florets and its continued push to add new acreage in strategic locations that ensure good access to water and provide geographic diversity to the company’s existing growing regions. 

“Our biggest priority is ensuring our customers will have consistent quality and supply year-round,” he said.

In addition, he said 4Earth Farms is working to reduce the thickness of its polypropylene (PP) film material by 12% over the next six months. 
“We are also converting our packing from PP to polyethylene (PE), a much more easily recycled material,” Munger said. “We have many innovative sustainable packs available for our customers, but the cost of these sustainable packages continues to be unrealistic for our retail customers.”

Sales success

Munger said retailers can succeed both with integrated and separate organic merchandising tactics.

“We have retail customers that do both, and in general they all seem to be having success growing their organic programs,” Munger said. “I think that retailers know their customers best and have tested both strategies.” 

In general, Munger said that if a retailer has a well-established organics program and their customers are coming in with the knowledge that they will easily find a wide range of organic produce, the side-by-side merchandising strategy seems to work well.

“For retailers that are just building their organic produce program, we have found that creating an organic destination, where all are merchandised together, is a more effective strategy,” Munger said. 
“It sends a very clear message that the store is building a consistent organic program and makes it easy for customers interested in purchasing organic produce to find what they are looking for.”

Even more important than merchandising tactics, Munger said a high fill rate and consistency are the best way to go. 

“Consumers are looking for organic produce each time they shop and ensuring a high fill rate, consistent quality and regular ads to promote organics are a winning strategy,” Munger said.