Certified Organic Production Continues To Increase in Washington

Certified organic apple production increased 37% in Washington in 2017.  In 2016, there were 16,191 acres of certified organic apples in the state.  2017 wrapped up with about certified 22,116 acres.  Washington State University professor David Granatstein said the big jump likely came about at the fruit company level.

“Fruit companies have customers who are essentially saying look, we want to come to you, and say here’s our order for conventional apples, organic apples, all of these different varieties, in different amounts, we want you to take care of the whole thing and if you can’t help us meet this organic market then we’ll go somewhere else.”

Granatstein said according to a recent Neilsen the demand for organic produce is there.

“Found that the number of mainstream groceries, the larger chains and whatnot, their stores that had organic apples in store went from less than 60% 10 years ago to almost, virtually 99% currently.”

Estimates show there could be as many as 25,594 certified organic acres certified by the end of 2018, an increase of 16%.

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