In Their Words: Uncle Matt's Organic

Matt McLean is a family man with a unique inquisitive business sense. After graduating with a business administration degree in 1993, he returned home to his family in Clermont, Florida to start a juice brokerage business. Matt’s grandfather grew citrus the old-fashioned way—advocating that soil stewardship produced the healthiest crop—with no chemical inputs. His father, brother, and a multitude of nieces and nephews inspired the creation of Uncle Matt’s six years later.  With the help of his family and his ever-inquiring mind, Matt built what is now America’s oldest organic orange juice company and the nation’s top-selling brand of organic OJ and grapefruit juice.

OPN recently caught up with Matt to find out more about the years of growth, the recent merger with Dean Foods, and what the future holds.

OPN Direct: You relied heavily on your family expertise and heritage to build Uncle Matt’s Organic. Who is still involved, and how does this help shape the culture of your company?

MM: “I still run the day to day CEO functions. My father and brother work on greening research, production, and supplier and community relations.  They visit our growers in Florida and outside the state. My wife still does all the marketing, social media, and package design.

The real-life uncle to ten nieces and nephews, Matt McLean ventured into the organic juice business in 1999 with a passion for healthy living as well as a long family history of growing citrus in Florida.
“As the founders, it was important for us when we sold to Dean Foods that our mission and vision remain intact. They are very open and supportive of maintaining that. But we continue to drive the growth and mission of the company.”

OPN Direct: Uncle Matt’s Organic has been in business for 19 years. What kind of growth have you experienced since the merger, and what are some of your most successful innovative products?

MM: “We have been part of Dean Foods since June 2017, and we are plugging into their distribution network. They have the largest refrigerated network of direct store delivery throughout North America. They maintain more than 6,000 trucks that run routes every day from their dairies.  

“This has allowed us to grow into new channels we haven’t been in before—like food service, convenience, and even drug stores. These are places not well penetrated by organic.

“One of the most unique opportunities has been with the retailer Dollar General. We are excited to make organic good food available through them in about 10,000 stores nationwide. We are also going into 1,000 CVS stores in the Southeast.

“This is part of our mission, to make organic accessible to all demographics and regions in the country.”

OPN Direct: How has the merger helped you innovate,and what does the future hold for the company and your family?

MM “As I mentioned, we now have access to a whole lot more markets—stores and places we couldn’t have imagined without them.

“We have been able to innovate and build on trends of energy, probiotics, low-sugar, and low-calorie drinks. We introduced a brand new organic energy drink with orange juice, coffeeberry, and the adaptogen herb ashwagandha. It has 25% more caffeine than a cup of coffee, with the flavor and nutrition of OJ.  We introduced probiotic fruit-infused waters with ginger, lemon, and strawberries.

“Our most recent launch is a line of kombucha. We real brew and use only organic green tea and not-from-concentrate juice, with no additional sweeteners or flavors.  Our kombucha comes in classic flavors that consumers love.

“We are excited to see what we can do with our innovative beverages within the Dean Food network!

“The future for us is better than it’s ever been, because of the opportunity to grow our mission and help farmers everywhere that we source our organic ingredients. We are able to help build supplies and teach about the threats of citrus greening. We have done a good amount of outreach in Texas, Mexico, and California.

“While our Florida industry is battling citrus greening, it’s nice to know we can help other farmers do the best they can to prevent its spread in other regions.”

OPN Direct: As the organic industry continues to grow by double digits, what do you think are the most pressing challenges and important opportunities ahead?

MM: “I would say supply and demand are both issues and opportunities.

“We must make sure we can convert enough to organic production to keep up with demand—to continue to become better at our organic craft—using fewer inputs while still getting the desired result of more nutrient-dense crops.

“Educating consumers on the value of organics and on why to purchase them is vital. We need to become better marketers in telling this important story.