I continue to follow the ups and downs in the organic food movement for the Wisconsin Examiner. This update on the Organic Valley farmers co-op came after the coronavirus pandemic prompted the dairy farmers to schedule an unusual “virtual” annual meeting.
Here’s how the story starts:
Here’s more evidence of the hard times — but also of new hope — in farm country.
Organic Valley, the nationally known organic farmers co-op headquartered in LaFarge, lost money for the third straight year in 2019, but observers say its economic performance has improved and more importantly organic milk sales are unexpectedly zooming in 2020.
“Organic milk is just flying off the grocery shelves,” says Joel McNair, who publishes a Wisconsin-based farm magazine called Graze. He says the co-op is “experiencing if not record sales, near-record sales” based on the comments he hears from Organic Valley farmers.
An unexpected rise in sales in January 2020 turned into a flood in February and March when the coronavirus swept across the country, according to observers. As Americans retreated to the safety of their homes, they began stocking their refrigerators with organic milk.
“People are eating more at home, and that is driving more in-store retail organic dairy purchases,” confirms Elizabeth McMullen, Organic Valley’s public relations coordinator, in a written statement.
She describes the growth in retail sales as “unprecedented”.
Note the 2019 financial results were not yet audited.
To read more, please go here.
Stories by Marc Eisen 