WHOLE FOODS STORES FIRST TO GAIN ORGANIC CERTIFICATION

Dennis Blank

AUSTIN, Texas -- Whole Foods Market became the first major supermarket chain in the nation to get organic certification for each of its 140 stores, and certifiers say several more supermarket chains are in the process of getting certification as well.

The commitment is seen as a significant undertaking because it requires strict record keeping and segregation of products on a store-by-store basis. Some retailers have chosen to take a more customized approach to certification by starting with their produce departments, and then expanding from there, industry officials noted. But Whole Foods is the first to get entire stores approved to operate under the National Organic Program, which took effect last October.

The natural foods retailer, with sales of $2.7 billion, declined to divulge the costs, but certifiers say rates run as high as $2,000 a store.

In coming weeks, Quality Assurance International of San Diego, which certified Whole Foods, and Scientific Certification Systems, Emeryville, Calif., will be announcing certification approvals for other major regional supermarket companies.

Some are further along than others. Whole Foods main competitor, Wild Oats Market, Boulder, Colo., which has 101 stores and gross sales of $920 million, has been considering certification of its coffee and juice bars. Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif., became the first conventional supermarket chain a few years ago to get QAI certification of its milling operations so the company could sell its Select bread brands. George Thompson, a financial analyst for Prudential Securities, said Safeway's promotion of its certification organic breads "will pull a lot of traffic in certain neighborhoods."

What is surprising about retailers' voluntary move towards organic certification is that it's not specifically required under the NOP standards. But industry observers note supermarkets are always looking to gain a marketing edge on their competitors.

"My gut feeling is they are trying to get one foot up on the competitors to instill consumer confidence," said Ray Green, who directs the California Department of Food and Agriculture's organic program. California became the first state last year to require registration of retail stores selling organic products.

"Earning organic certification is further proof of Whole Foods Market's unwavering commitment to organics that began when our first store open almost 23 years ago," said Margaret Wittenberg, vice of governmental and public affairs.

Ellen Holton, marketing director of QAI, said it took a team of inspectors more than 10 weeks to certify all of Whole Foods' stores in the United States and Canada.

"The implications of Whole Foods organic retail certification are significant on several levels," Holton said. "For other conscientious retailers, this voluntary certification offers them the ability to close the loop in preserving organic integrity, which exponentially raises the confidence level of even more organic consumers."

Jeff Stephens, communications director for SCS, said three grocery operations including a 300-store chain are moving through the third-party certification process.

"The primary motivating factors are a good-faith effort to meet the intention of the USDA's National Organic Program," he told SN.