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Abstract
The overall purpose of this study is to conduct exploratory research on the market potential for
local organic sales outlets for small-to-medium scale farmers in the South Atlantic Sub-region of
the U.S. The objectives are as follow: (1) identification of the leading organic produce in each
state of the South Atlantic, (2) identification of supermarket chains offering the leading organic
produce of the South Atlantic, (3) identification of the leading produce with the highest premium
potential in the South Atlantic, and (4) identification of local organic supply chain linkages for
the leading organic produce in the South Atlantic.
Initially, this study proposed to identify established supply chains of leading organic produce
within the state of North Carolina. However, the state ranked only 16th in the U.S. in the number
of certified/exempt farms, with only 171 farms receiving 100 percent of the total value of
sales from organic production. With limited impact to North Carolina’s economy or agribusiness
industry, we expanded the study to include states within the entire South Atlantic sub-region of
the U.S. – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland,
and Delaware. We used the 2007 Census of Agriculture, 2008 Organic Production Survey and
Perishables Group FreshFacts® data from August of 2009 to 2010, and the 2006 National Farmers
Market Manager Survey to identify patterns. Conventional and certified production, retail
sales, and organic retail premiums are identified and evaluated to gain more insight of established
supply chains. The data shows potential for small scale producers with $5,000 or less by value of sales to market
their goods as ‘organic’ due to exemption from the certification process at consumer direct
sales outlets. However, small-to-medium farms (value of sales greater than $5,000 but less than
$250,000) with USDA ‘certification’ labels may have greater opportunities to establish contracts
with wholesalers as well as market their produce in multiple sales outlets. Directions for further
research will include 1) evaluating market power of the contracting agent in the market for certified
organic produce and 2) assessing the benefits and costs to producers and sales outlets for
‘organic’ produce.