We have a great deal of combined experience in the organic industry. Our Chairman and CEO, Marc Peperzak, has developed several very successful companies including Aurora Organic Dairy. His financial acumen and leadership have helped to spur the development of organic dairy. Our President and Chief ‘Organic’ Officer, Mark Retzloff, has dedicated his life to the transformation of agriculture through organics and has been an active part of the organic community. We are actively involved with the Organic Trade Association (OTA), as well as other organic consumer and farmer groups. As such, we are committed to upholding the principles of organic law. We meet or exceed all organic rules and regulations of the National Organic Program (NOP).
Organic certification is a necessary part of growing and producing organic products. In order to obtain organic certification –- which indicates that a farmer, processor or supplier has complied with all applicable organic regulations -- we must submit our entire operations to review by our organic certifiers. Certification includes our animals, protocols, pasture, crops and our processing facility.
First and foremost, all organic farmers, producers, suppliers and manufacturers, as well as all products sold as organic, now fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA manages this segment of its jurisdiction through the National Organic Program (NOP), which includes the full set of rules and regulations that must be followed in order to obtain certification. Our Colorado farm is certified organic by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Due to the certification of many farms in Colorado, including those of Aurora Organic Dairy and our partners, Colorado is the #2 state in total organic acreage, behind only California. Our milk plant and Texas farm are certified organic by Quality Assurance International (QAI).