Imagine the year 2050.
You might picture a future where robots putter around in tractors, and compact cashierless stores occupy a space in every town. The modern shopper spends a much smaller fraction of their time floating through grocery aisles, but the time they do spend is filled with intent.
I foresee a world in which organic is not simply one choice amongst the sea of fresh produce options, but is considered the choice of many. Sustainability is often a foundational element to what is selected off of the shelf, meaning shoppers will turn to brands like Cal-Organic Farms, the organic arm of Grimmway Enterprises, for more reasons than one.
This is the future I imagine while listening to David Bright, Vice President of Marketing, recount the company’s more than two decades spent excavating and elevating the organic sector.
“Grimmway has been a leader in organics and growing organically since 1995,” David begins. “In 2001, we acquired Cal-Organic Farms, and for more than 20 years have fostered a remarkable track record of innovation in organic farming practices that is a model for the industry and exceeds USDA standards.”
Since 2000, Grimmway has increased its organically farmed acreage by more than 45,000 acres across seven states—an effort that continues with great enthusiasm to this day. By following market trends, Grimmway strategically determines which locations and items will be the most beneficial to expand production. Currently, the supplier operates out of growing regions in California, the Southeast, and the Northwest.
“Converting conventional to organic acreage is an ongoing priority across our growing regions. By 2025, we anticipate adding more than 2,000 acres to our organic farmland portfolio,” David says. “As demand grows, we continue to expand our production of organic carrots and vegetables by closely monitoring the marketplace to determine future plantings.”
While David begins painting a picture of dynamic demand patterns in the organic space, I can’t help but return to an image of hovering shopping carts overflowing with organic produce. Demand may have looked one way during the pandemic-ridden past couple of years, but what will it look like 20 or 30 years from now?
“We have noticed the evolution in how shoppers outside the traditional grocery channel purchase fresh vegetables, and organics in particular,” David tells me. “The growing need for more accessible fresh produce accelerated during COVID as shoppers limited trips to the store and began to rely heavily on home delivery, curbside pickup, and mass and club channels.”
And where there is greater demand, there is sure to be greater supply chain pressure.
“Several online and brick-and-mortar retailers sought our assistance to expand their organic vegetable assortment, but lacked the means to merchandise and deliver organic vegetables, such as wet rack capacity or availability, sufficient produce staff, and protection for the products,” David continues. “Cal-Organic Farms developed a line of bagged organic vegetables that clearly identifies the items as organic, maintains freshness, and facilitates automated order selection for home delivery operations.”
"Converting conventional to organic acreage is an ongoing priority across our growing regions. By 2025, we anticipate adding more than 2,000 acres to our organic farmland portfolio."
David Bright, Vice President of Marketing, Grimmway Farms
If there is any truth to my vision of an organic-filled future, this demand David and I ponder will only continue to grow—and at an impressive rate. Such growth calls for further innovation, and Grimmway has the tools in-hand to craft the perfect concoction for organic success long into the future.
The first tool? Grimmway’s strategically located operations.
“Regional differentiation supports our mission to make fresh, organic vegetables physically and financially accessible to as many U.S. consumers as possible. Our network enables us to supply locally grown carrots and organic vegetables in season, supplemented by production from California during the rest of the year,” David explains. “This differentiation also reduces shipping time and expense for customers and helps us deliver fresh product to stores more quickly and efficiently.”
Grimmway’s Pasco, Washington, operation includes 4,500 acres of carrots and a fully automated, state-of-the-art packing plant that runs from July to November including an organic potato program in the late summer. This is an integral piece of Grimmway’s year-round organic potato program.
The grower’s Southeast growing operations—encompassing 3,500 acres of carrots and more than 1,100 acres of organic mixed vegetables and blueberries—are headquartered in Valdosta, Georgia, where the production, packing, and distribution for product grown in Florida and Georgia is managed. David reports that here, Grimmway has seen significant growth over the last three years, adding more than 10 organic crops to its portfolio and strengthening its presence as an organic farmer.
“Carrot quality and volume were excellent from our Southeast production during the winter season; we continue to fine tune our organic vegetable operation and look forward to another successful season this fall,” David adds. “Our production in the Southeast brought our East Coast customers significant savings on freight costs in a very tight transportation market compared to sourcing product from California. We began producing a large number of items in the Southeast, and after several seasons of production, we continue to narrow the core group of crops that are best suited to grow in these areas.”
Currently, Grimmway’s primary crops in the Southeast include carrots, cilantro, collard greens, dandelion greens, dill, green onions, green kale, Lacinato kale, red kale, and Italian and Curly parsley.
“We are committed to providing our customers with high-quality vegetables year-round and we have improved logistical efficiencies through our regional operations,” says David. “The diverse processing capabilities and productive land base in the Southeast provided a unique opportunity to grow our regional carrot program and expand our organic division.”
So, what inspired all of these strategic expansions? The answer, David tells me, is simple.
“The impetus for Grimmway’s expansion of production into additional regional production is the direct result in the demand growth for organic vegetables, marketing of regional produce, water availability, and a solution for the transportation and logistics issues the industry faces today,” he sums up.
If you can, revisit the scene you imagined at the beginning of this article. I paused for a moment on sustainability, which is one of the most important aspects of the story. Grimmway’s love song for the Earth is a long and heartfelt one, jiving to the tune of predictable weather patterns and accessible water resources.
“Grimmway has always monitored and tracked weather patterns and adjusted our farming practices and crop rotations accordingly. However, the real wake-up call came in 2000, when we began consistently experiencing abnormally dry growing conditions at our ranches in California,” David relays. “Subsequent droughts in 2011, 2014, and the worst we’ve seen yet in 2021, have taught us valuable lessons in effective and environmentally responsible water management and renewal.”
The organic pioneer now farms in places that have access to both surface and groundwater to mitigate shortages.
"Our production in the Southeast brought our East Coast customers significant savings on freight costs in a very tight transportation market compared to sourcing product from California."
David Bright
“By having multiple growing areas, we have more flexibility in when and where we plant and are better equipped to manage localized drought conditions,” David states. “We continue to relocate some crop production to less drought-prone areas, notably our 2020 expansion into the Northwest’s Columbia River Basin, which moves summer production to a more water-secure area.”
The sun seemingly never sets on Grimmway’s expansion efforts. Aside from physical growth, the company is building out its commitment to the earth, documenting its ambitious plans for the future in its Inaugural Report on Environment, Sustainability, and Governance.
“Grimmway continues to grow sustainably while staying true to our legacy and core values,” David concludes. “Looking forward, we plan to expand our infrastructure, advance new research and technologies, and continue to invest in the people who help us supply the world with the healthiest food possible.”
While the vision we conjured at the beginning of this article is likely not 100 percent accurate, technology is certainly not going anywhere, and I would argue that neither are organics—the sector is growing in size as I write.
So, what will be the state of organics in 2050? We may not know for sure, but just imagine what is possible. I know Grimmway Farms, for one, will be doing the same. 
