AC Foods introduces Regenerative Organic Certified blueberries

AC Foods, which grows citrus, blueberries and hazelnuts, with a focus on responsible, regenerative farming at scale, recently pursued Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) for its betterful blueberries.

ROC is a certification recognized by retailers as well as something consumers are beginning to seek and demand as they look for transparency regarding farming practices.

Kristin Jacobs, Sustainability Manager, AC Foods

“We evaluated multiple regenerative certifications and ROC was most aligned to our definition of regenerative agriculture,” explained Kristin Jacobs, sustainability manager of the Milpitas, CA-based company. “Additionally, ROC meets the highest standards in the world for soil health, animal welfare and farmworker fairness. We want to be at the forefront in providing high-quality blueberries grown in ways that are healthier for our planet.”

Transitioning to regenerative organic farming practices felt like a natural fit for the AC Foods team since many of the practices have been incorporated in its blueberry farming for years.

“The certification adds an additional layer of tracking, benchmarks and credibility for our farms,” Jacobs said. “This helps build trust with our retailers and consumers alike, knowing they are purchasing delicious, high-quality blueberries from a brand that aligns with their own personal values.”

Throughout both California and Oregon, AC Foods is involved with academic agricultural research groups and is constantly working with other growers and industry professionals to ensure it is imparting the right practices for its farms.

“We understand that many of our resources are finite,” Jacobs said. “We want to do our part to ensure we can continue farming and growing for years to come. It is essential that we not only work to sustain and protect the land and farms that we have today but also find ways to rebuild and regenerate these resources for the future.”

With that in mind, the company’s sustainability philosophy has always been about maintaining its resources and ensuring it is leaving things the way they found them. Regenerative takes those efforts one step further by extending core values while also improving upon them.

“We are focused on doing the right things for the right reasons, which aligns with our values as an overall company,” Jacobs said. “Our farms utilize cover crop and native grass to protect soil erosion and build soil health. We carefully manage our pollinator habitats by removing weeds so that the beneficial native plants can thrive and monitor beneficial insects to maintain soil health and natural pollinator populations. These practices have resulted in 25% average increase in our soil organic matter since 2016.”

“The certification adds an additional layer of tracking, benchmarks and credibility for our farms. This helps build trust with our retailers and consumers alike, knowing they are purchasing delicious, high-quality blueberries from a brand that aligns with their own personal values.” - Kristin Jacobs

AC Foods also ensures animal welfare and farmworker fairness as part of its regenerative organic certification.

“Our farms and regenerative practices create habitats for insects, birds of prey and endangered species,” Jacobs said. “These efforts have resulted in 170 acres of habitat planted and maintained for beneficial insects and wild pollinators and 267% average increase of wild pollinators on our farm’s acres of habitat. We also work within our local communities to provide jobs with fair wages and ensure workplace quality.”

With the launch of the betterful brand, AC Foods has created social media platforms and introduced a new website for consumers and retail partners to learn about the brand, where to buy it and what makes betterful special.

“We will continue to post on our pages and drive consumers to our site with media with the overall goal of driving awareness and education on the brand as well as our regenerative practices,” said Sunnia Gull, vice president of marketing for the company.

Melyssa Sharp, who handles blueberry sales for the company, noted regenerative agriculture is top of mind for many of its retail customers.

“We are excited to work with like-minded partners who focus on promoting and uplifting regenerative brands like betterful with a common goal,” she said. “We work hand-in-hand with our retail partners to plan promotions to drive sales through the season. We are able to provide insights directly from our farms to our customers so they can react quickly, and plan effective promotions based on overall conditions and supply.”

Currently, the company is focused on its domestic retail partnerships and growing those in future seasons.

“We are excited to see more and more retailers looking for partners that share similar values and care about bringing regeneratively grown products, like betterful blueberries, to their shoppers,” Sharp said.