Selling Certified Organic Produce to Retail Produce Markets in the Upper Midwest

Posted January 2000

Retail produce buyers in Minneapolis, MN and Madison, WI were interviewed to see if there are opportunities for small-scale growers of certificed organic produce. Produce buyers considered organic produce to be good quality, appealing to customers who want to help protect the earth. Buyer’s views of their relationship with growers, changing sources of produce throughout the year, reasons why some stores don’t carry organic produce, and problems buyers have had when buying from local growers are discussed in the report. For growers ready to sell through the retail market, there are suggestions that include how to approach a buyer, design an availability sheet of products, project a professional image, and build confidence with retail produce buyers.

Read the full report (pdf file)

Vegetable Storage Crops Workshop

Learn how to extend your marketing season by growing and selling winter storage crops like carrots, beets, winter squash, cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic and more. This workshop will be held on December 4 in Hudson and December 11 in Madison. For details, see the workshop flyer. Hope to see you there!

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CIAS in the community

CIAS Hosts Annual Meeting of Eco-Apple Growers

On Thursday, November 12, CIAS hosted its annual meeting of apple growers engaged in its Eco-Apple pesticide reduction program. Notably, the group of 48 growers celebrated the successful completion of a six-year effort designed to reduce the use of pesticides on orchards throughout Wisconsin. During the course of the program, all reporting orchards demonstrated a reduced reliance on pesticides in favor of a diversity of IPM strategies, and some realized a near-total elimination of organophosphate applications. CIAS thanks its team of growers for their enthusiastic and committed participation. In particular, CIAS wishes to thank Dave Flannery, Wendy Schafer, Bill Stone and Anna Maenner for their fortitude in seeing this phase of the project through to a successful conclusion. UW rsearchers Dan Mahr, Patty McManus, Matt Stasiak and Teryl Roper have been critical to the project’s success. Thanks also to EPA-V and the USDA for their support and encouragement.

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