This episode of The Natural List podcast is chock-full of information about the organic produce market! Host Adrienne Smith is joined by New Hope Network Sponsored Content Director Nancy Coulter-Parker to discuss industry trends in the organic market. Nancy is a longtime organic industry advocate who has also written the OTA’s State of Organic report for many years. The two discuss the exciting upcoming 10th anniversary of the Organic Produce Summit as well as how consumers are interfacing with organic products as the cost of living continues to rise.

Then we shift to an interview with Nancy and Brenna Davis, the CEO of the Organically Grown Company. Brenna has deep roots in the world of environmental and social justice, and her passion and knowledge of the organic industry oozes through every word of this conversation. Brenna will be speaking at the Organic Produce Summit, happening July 14-16 in Monterey, CA. She will draw from her years of working in this industry and her new book, Leading Through Fire: Resilient Leadership for People, Planet and the Future, to excite and inspire during her keynote.

Tune into this episode for a thoughtful and insightful look at the challenges our industry is facing, as well as what Nancy and Brenna are excited for!

Thank you to our sponsors, Gnubees and Zego.

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Read the State of Organic https://www.organicproducenetwork.com/organic-retail/state-of-organic-produce-2025

Register for the Organic Produce Summit here. https://www.organicproducesummit.com/general-interest/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid-search&utm_campaign=hln26ops-sf-bofbrandedkw-search&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23658548311&gbraid=0AAAAADkQdJWHqwVBcM8OJHqWEsaX2b96j&gclid=CjwKCAjw0o3SBhBVEiwAh28-jSHfwbKG6gJ8bUGOOETLyCXSNDRzsg3gdnaMJkUWG8Ls00nA02t5PBoCJUUQAvD_BwE

Organically grown company: https://www.organicgrown.com/

Brenna’s book: https://www.brennadavis.com/leadingthroughfire.html

Gnubees link: https://www.gnusante.com/en-us

Zego link: https://zegofoods.com/

Nancy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-coulter-parker-ncp123/

Brenna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebrennaverse/

Gnubees link: Gnubees

In this episode:

• 0:11 - Welcome to our guest, Nancy Coulter-Parker.
• 0:24 – Thank you to our sponsor, Gnusante.
• 1:41 – The 10th anniversary of Organic Produce Summit is happening July 14-16 in Monterey, CA.
• 3:25 – The organic produce market grew 5 times faster than conventional produce.
• 4:09 – Nancy describes the trends that are driving organic produce growth.
• 6:24 – Does organic produce have any barriers or challenges to growth?
• 7:09 – Consumers are feeling the price tension in their wallets. Has the price difference between organic and conventional narrowed at all?
• 9:01 – Brenna Davis will be a keynote speaker at the OPS Women’s Networking Brunch.
• 9:25 – Thank you to our sponsor Zego.
• 10:27 – Welcome to our guest Brenna Davis, CEO of Organically Grown Company.
• 12:30– Brenna describes her journey to caring about the environment and how it led her to the Organically Grown Company.
• 14:40 – Organic food has so many benefits; Brenna shares a few of her favorites.
• 16:33 – Organic produce is the biggest category in the organic market.
• 17:21 – GLP-1 use is impacting the amount of produce purchased by households and spells opportunity for organic brands.
• 18:22– Brenna shares her outlook on some challenges facing the organic industry.
• 21:34 – Brenna’s new book, Leading Through Fire: Resilient Leadership for People, Planet and the Future, is focused on how to help leaders be resilient in the face of today’s multiple crises.
• 23:40 – Farmer’s resilience is what keeps the industry strong.
• 26:02 – Think big: Nancy and Brenna answer the question “What do you want to see from the organic industry in the next 10 years?”