Organic Produce Summit Marks 10th Anniversary with 2026 Event
MONTEREY, CA - I can hardly believe this year marks the 10th anniversary since an idea to gather our industry exclusively to focus on organic fresh produce launched the Organic Produce Summit. Walking the floor of over 200 booths, it is awe-inspiring to think it all started with 70 booths and just over 500 attendees in year one. This week, the milestone anniversary was marked with a fuller calendar than ever: the Organic Produce Summit (OPS) returned to the Monterey Conference Center with a new pre-show networking stretch bookending the trade show floor.
Tuesday's additions included the Golf Tournament at Del Monte, the Cultivating Connections women's networking event, and the Roots & Vines CCOF fundraiser. Wednesday carried the momentum forward with field tours and Yoga on the Beach to start the morning.
The day's education programming paired two sessions built to offer different corners of the industry.
"From Gut Feel to Data-Driven: A Fresh Produce Industry Playbook," presented by Amanda Kuehler and Joe Vargas of Huckleberry Signals, pointed toward a working session on moving produce decision-making away from instinct and toward analytics. "A Good Deal For All: Building Strong, Vibrant, & Equitable Local Food Systems Through Engaged Partnerships" drew a wider bench—Mark Mulcahy of Organic Options Consulting, James Morrell of Columbaric, Matt Lundy of the Organic Trade Association, Héktor Calderón-Victoria of UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and the Southwest Regional Food Business Center, Lael Gerhart of Frog Hollow Farm, and Bianca Kaprielian of Fruit World—suggesting a conversation on equity and local food systems spanning policy, academia, and the grower-shipper level alike.
The Seed to Service volunteer event and the Organic Roots reception for first-time attendees rounded out the day's programming ahead of two capstone events. The week's marquee industry honors, the Besties Awards—presented by AndNowUKnow—capped the pre-show calendar Wednesday afternoon at Ferrantes Bay View Room in the Monterey Marriott, just ahead of OPS's own Opening Reception at Custom House Plaza that evening.
Thursday brought the summit's single show-floor day, and organizers packed the hours around it. Registration and exhibitor move-in opened the morning, followed by back-to-back sessions at the Marriott.
"Inside Organics at Retail: Challenges, Changes, & Growth" paired Tom Barnes of Category Partners and Justin Rowe of Northeast Shared Services with retail buyers Rachel O'Connor of Sprouts Farmers Market and Todd Smith of The Save Mart Companies—a lineup positioned to weigh in on how both natural-specialty and conventional grocery are adjusting organic merchandising strategy as the category matures. Running opposite it, "Organic & Beyond: Integrating Worker Well-Being into Organic & Regenerative Farming" brought together LeAnne Ruzzamenti of the Equitable Food Initiative, Amanda Kuhn of Costco Wholesale, Jane Kuhn of Once Upon a Farm, and Maggie Torres of Stemilt Growers, suggesting a conversation on labor standards taking their place alongside soil health as a measure of what "regenerative" means in practice.
A second round of sessions followed later that morning. "Nutrition Matters: The Opportunities for Organic Produce at Retail" drew Alan Lewis of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Michelle McCarty of Brighter Bites, Chris Costagli of NielsenIQ, Sam Knowlton of SoilSymbiotics, and Lael Gerhart of Frog Hollow Farm—a mix built to connect nutrition science and hard retail data to organic's case at shelf.
Down the hall, "The Organic Advantage: Communicating Value to Consumers in a Shifting Retail Landscape" gathered Kim Chackal of Equifruit, Mike Houston of the Takoma Park Silver Spring Co-op, Tom Chapman of the Organic Trade Association, and Shawna Rodgers of the CCOF Foundation, pointing toward a session on how to message organic's value at a moment of consumer price sensitivity.
Spanning a variety of backgrounds and insights, a common thread was the amount of knowledge at the event and how to share it with the end consumer to create a more vast world for organic produce.
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
“Education isn’t providing information. That’s the easiest way to do it…Proper education empowers somebody to learn. Whether that is a 3-year-old or a 73-year-old,” Alan imparted to attendees.
In a separate room, Shawna shared a similar sentiment from the team side of the store.
"We have found the biggest boost comes from front-of-house education and working with those working in the store, so they are more inclined to talk about what they know in store and propel them," she reflected on boosting sales.
Mike agreed that educated team members help propel sales, stating his own co-op works to bring not just the employees but everyone along through newsletters and sharing of information through local distribution.
Following a morning break, attendees returned to the Golden State Theatre, a beautiful setting for the back-to-back keynotes. After stretching our legs to make it to the new location on the city’s popular Alvarado Street, Chef Dan Barber, with Row 7 Seed Company and Blue Hill/Blue Hill at Stone Barns, delivered "Flavor, the Real Disruptor—The Case for Organic's Next Chapter." Given Row 7's work breeding vegetables for flavor first, the title alone suggests an argument that taste, not just sustainability credentials, should anchor organic's next pitch to shoppers. But the culinary-turned-seed expert went even farther.
Pointing to the 10th anniversary of OPS, Chef Barber stated by the 20th, perhaps even sooner, is a closer, more measured tie between nutrients and flavor in organic produce.
Chef Barber was followed by "Imagine That! Innovative Retail & Distribution Strategies Transforming the Organic Produce Industry," with Mike Downey of Military Produce Group, Sandi Kronick of Happy Dirt, Mark Mulcahy of Organic Options Consulting, Abhi Ramesh of Misfits Market, and Bu Nygrens of Veritable Vegetable—a panel spanning institutional, rescue/discount, and mission-driven distribution models likely to surface how organic is reaching shoppers outside conventional retail.
Again, the overarching consensus was to bring the knowledge in the room to the consumer and, through the stores, bolstering expertise—especially in the store—and how we can ensure the person you see in the department can answer a question, and therefore inspire them to do so.
Making our way back for OPS’ traditional open-air lunch, the show floor opened at midday, spanning the Steinbeck Ballroom and the Serra & DeAnza levels through the afternoon.
Here, too, we saw the floor carry its own programming, with a Bayer CropScience chef demonstration, two rounds of a CDFA dog demonstration, and a Grapes from California chef demonstration, before the Closing Happy Hour brought the 10th Organic Produce Summit to a close.
All the while, four areas of the show floor welcomed the opportunity for buyers, suppliers, and all in between to connect.
The event itself may be over, but there is still news to come from such a packed few days. Stay tuned as we continue reporting on the organic category's next chapter in the weeks ahead and beyond.
To Informa Markets, as well as the organic community that has made such an event possible, congratulations!
