Organic sales lagging in foodservice

11/11/2014 10:07:00 AM
Tom Burfield

Organic fruits and vegetables aren’t big sellers among most foodservice customers, but a number of restaurants proudly tout their organic fare, and grower-shippers are hopeful that their numbers will grow as organic foods continue to find favor among consumers.

Organic greens are a favorite of foodservice customers of Earthbound Farm, San Juan Bautista, Calif., said Samantha Cabaluna, vice president of marketing and communications.

“Our foodservice sales are healthy and continue to grow,” she said. “(Organic greens) are easy to incorporate into any menu.

The organic market that started with a few small restaurants in the San Francisco area now is expanding to midsize and upscale eateries, said Earl Herrick, owner, president and founder of Earl’s Organic Produce, San Francisco.

“Restaurants are identifying where their food is from, and who the grower is,” he said.

They will point out, for example, that a particular type of salad is made with lettuce from a specific grower.

“That’s what everybody does now,” he said.

That’s not the case for franchise locations, however, since a prime concern for franchisees is keeping costs down.

“They will be the last one to the dance,” Herrick said.

That could change, though, if enough end-users demand organic produce, he added.

Earl’s does not conduct much foodservice business directly, he said. The company works with some foodservice distributors or jobbers.

Scott Mabs, CEO at Porterville, Calif.-based Homegrown Organic Farms, which handles a variety of organic fruits, said he doesn’t see a lot of foodservice business in the organic sector.

But he added that he is hopeful that will change over time.

Global Organics Specialty Source Inc., Sarasota, Fla., does business with a few institutions, like private schools and colleges, that purchase organics, said Ronni Blumenthal, vice president of administration.

On the restaurant scene, the “upscale restaurants are sourcing more and more organic,” she said.

Owner Mitch Blumenthal, her brother, offers some specialty items restaurants favor, like lemongrass, burgundy okra and heirloom root vegetables, she said.

“We are also seeing many juice bars in Florida and  the Southeast that are using our organic produce for their cold-pressed juices,” she said.

The company has a special section for juice bars on its price list that helps buyers get good deals on the quality they need by ordering product that may have some slight cosmetic variations from the firm’s quality standards, she said.

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