What You'll Learn
- The difference between an ingredient and a processing aid.
- How the National List works and which sections apply to different types of nonorganic substances.
- Annotations and restrictions are and how they affect what versions and sources you can use.
- What a commercial availability search is.
- How to verify a supplier's certification status.
- What documentation to collect before an ingredient goes into production.
Watch Time: 12:41
This video is about sourcing ingredients for organic products, and it opens on the thing that sets organic apart; every ingredient behind the seal has been verified. It follows an ingredient from supplier verification through to your receiving dock, first sorting what you use into ingredients and processing aids, then working through the general rule that everything must be organic and the narrow exceptions that let you depart from it.
The organizing idea is that every exception comes with a burden of proof. A nonagricultural input like baking soda must be consistent with the National List, a nonorganic agricultural ingredient has to clear a commercial availability search you document and repeat, and price never counts as a reason to select a nonorganic version when an organic one is available. Material review organizations like OMRI can shorten the legwork, but your certifier still has the final say, and nothing new goes in without being added to your OSP first. Verification is your job, not your supplier’s, which is why you pull certificates, spec sheets, and check the Organic Integrity Database rather than trusting a supplier’s claim.
Running underneath all of it is the reason the paperwork exists, which is that each check is how the buyer gets what they paid for. Watch this when you are bringing on a new ingredient, changing a supplier, or reformulating a product.
About the Featured Operations
Giant Jones Brewing Company
- Organic Brewery
- Madison, WI
- 4 Employees
- Certified Organic since 2019
A certified organic brewery run by women, specializing in strong beer styles such as barley wines and Belgian tripels, sold in returnable bottles. The focus on big beers lets it absorb the cost of organic ingredients. Its motivation is rooted in community, sustainability, and a belief in organic agriculture’s benefits for soil, water, and wildlife.
Sailer’s Food Market & Meat Processing
- Meat Processor & Butcher
- Elmwood, WI
- 28 Employees
- Certified Organic since 2016
A meat operation offering both slaughter and processing services for organic and conventional product. It handles animals from intake through cutting, cooking, and packaging, and also hauls livestock for customers who lack their own transport, caring for animals in its possession as they would be on the farm.
Tradin Organic
- Organic Ingredient Importer
- Aptos, CA
- Certified Organic since 2010
A global organic sourcing company importing bulk ingredients such as seeds, grains, fruits, juices, and cooking oils, aiming to be a one-stop shop for U.S. companies seeking organic inputs. It emphasizes long-term grower relationships built on trust and farm visits, with a stated goal of making organic more broadly available.