Community Updates

Driscoll's Commitment to All Organic Nursery Plants

Driscoll’s announces a broad expansion of organic nursery plant production and a commitment to providing all of Driscoll’s USDA certified organic growers with organic nursery plants. Driscoll’s innovation continues to pave the way for the organic berry market by continuously improving organic production practices and moving the agriculture forward in meaningful ways. As the market leader in the fresh organic berry market, Driscoll’s is a trusted brand for consumers looking for organic strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. This commitment to organic nursery plants for all of Driscoll’s independent organic growers demonstrates Driscoll’s leadership in meeting and exceeding U.S. organic standards.

Published 9 years ago | About a 2 minute read

Every Driscoll’s berry begins life in a nursery. Nursery plants are grown, harvested and carefully packed and delivered to independent growers for commercial fruit production. Growing certified organic starter plants from the nursery to provide organic growers healthy, pest and disease free plants is a priority for Driscoll’s. Driscoll’s has developed and expanded an organic nursery program certified by CCOF for the last seven years. Currently, Driscoll’s maintains the only organic strawberry nursery certified by CCOF, the nation’s oldest and largest third-party certifying agency. There are no other known commercial organic strawberry start nurseries certified under the USDA National Organic Program.

“In the nearly 20 years that CCOF has worked with Driscoll’s, they have truly lead the organic sector -- expanding organic acreage, investing in new organic growers and supporting employee participation in organic standards development, including on the National Organics Standards Board. Driscoll’s commitment to developing organic nursery plants marks welcome leadership in the organic sector.”
– Cathy Calfo, Executive Director and CEO of CCOF, Inc.

Driscoll’s nursery operations are proud of the seven years invested in researching the viability of organically grown strawberry plants. This significant accomplishment speaks to the long-term commitment for rolling out the program across all berries in the coming years. Today approximately 10 percent of our organic strawberry production in Watsonville and Salinas comes from certified organic plants.

“Since our first sales of organic berries in the late 1980’s, we’ve seen tremendous growth in our organic business due to increasing consumer market demand. We are committed to fully deliver on the spirit of the organic program across all our berries and see this process as a journey to an exciting future."
- Soren Bjorn, Executive Vice President of Driscoll’s

The commitment to strive for all organic nursery plants is another example of a long line of first-moves in the berry industry for Driscoll’s. With more than 100 years of family farming heritage, Driscoll’s has been a pioneer in the berry industry across many fronts. Driscoll’s is one of the few berry companies with a dedicated global research and development program focusing on growing proprietary berry varieties exclusively for their independent growers to deliver a superior berry flavor experience. Driscoll’s mission is to continually delight berry consumers through the alignment with their customers and berry growers.