ROC. Regenerative Organic Certified. Is it the new "certified organic"? Or a dead-end nano-niche for navel-gazing elites? Part of the answer lies in ROC's ability to condemn its cousin 'organic' as inferior while introducing new consumers to the latest premium standard of environmental agriculture. Google search volume for "regenerative agriculture" has grown exponentially since 2017 - a keyboard Skate Ramp of sorts. I can definitely tell you that interest in "organic" never grew this fast in the 1980s and 1990s. The movement relied on human word-of-mouth and episodic PR. It did not take off at scale until the mid-2000s (before high-speed internet was universal). Both word-of-mouth and PR yield far slower results than TikTok and Google SEO. ROC demand is also growing much faster than supply. ROC acreage is now estimated at only 700,000 acres in the U.S., or 13% of the USDA-certified organic acreage (number courtesy of Regenerative Farmers of America). Supply is nanoscopic in the U.S. More than 80% of regenerative acreage is international at this point. Regulatory intervention would accelerate ROC the fastest and reduce prices to middle-class levels. The more significant problem I see is that ROC foods at premium or super-premium prices will cater to an elite who will insist that the products perform vastly better than premium equivalents in everyday usage. In other words, the same audience able to pay and ideologically primed to adopt the ROC standard is ALSO the same group that will hold these branded products to a higher sensory standard. This is the "sensory tax" in premium CPG. It isn't kind to new brands and product lines. Some of the few products I've tried that have paid this "sensory tax" include - New Barn Organics eggs, specifically Dr. Bronner's liquid soaps What ROC lacks that "organic" had in the 2000s is the element of fear. Organic took off due to ferocious word-of-mouth among Whole Foods Moms who were pregnant and terrified of what bovine growth hormones (introduced to the U.S. milk supply in 2015) might do to their fetuses, babies, and children. That is a very ancient fear - harm to my children. Saving the earth from the ravages of climate change may be necessary to some of us, but it is not the same kind of fear that Whole Foods Moms had come into those stores in the 2000s, racing for organic milk. I was there documenting these folks. ROC needs to find a "fear" to tap into that is more immediate than global warming. Will ROC become the next "certified organic"? Let me know your thoughts and the most insightful answer wins a signed hard copy of Ramping Your Brand! #business #startups #entrepreneurship
What makes fear based marketing the direction to go? It seems like fear based has been used for decades creating a slow movement toward organic and similar things, what about making a product that’s better in multiple ways and focusing on the actual benefits, with sustainability more as something that’s just there? Regenerative can create more benefits.
John Roulac
5d
Another certification that is scaling very fast is Regenified™ ROC has its share of issues and is really a marketing branding strategy as it’s not really increasing lands to regeneration. It is adding a gold star to existing organic acres and brands.
I think it will depend on two key factors: 1. Consumer Fear - Can we tie climate change environmental outcomes clearly enough to agriculture - flooding, wildfires, contaminated ground water... 2. Consumer Gain - Can we find ways to prove that ROC improves nutrient density and if so, can we quantify the personal health outcomes tied to better nutrient density. Not sure if there is enough direct dramatic evidence for #1 to scare the consumer into better buying habits. For #2 there appears to be some promising data emerging, but even that is going to be a tough hill to climb to relay that back to the consumer efficiently. Even if ROC was able to succeed with #1 and #2, I don't think those add up to the level of concern and behavior change that potential to harm your baby did and the clear connection that ingesting chemicals (pesticides + herbicides) is bad for your health.
A local higher-end QSR chain in Austin had the verbiage on the menu for 5 months before taking it off. Sometimes food verbiage becomes too science-y
Jeremy Smith
5d
I have found that New Seasons Markets has done an excellent job marketing ROC. Their butchers seem to have been educated on ROC and enjoy it. Making the experience shopping their superior to Whole Foods. The butchers at Whole Foods are not as well trained and don’t “push” ROC the same way. New Seasons has the product line and that’s all I purchase now and their product is great.
That’s a great question about the parallels between organic and regenerative. I don’t think ROC needs an element of fear to take off. I think people are just tired of being sold fake, terrible food that is killing them slowly (or sometimes quickly). Consumers want to participate in a real movement that benefits the land, the farmers, and their health. I also think that anyone who cares enough to pay a premium for organic will pay a premium for ROC if it’s available. There’s also the possibility that regenerative (not necessarily ROC) products take off at a lower price point. Lots of unknowns on how this will evolve!
Bret C.
5d
😂 I think the same way, I just can’t explain it like you. Practice makes perfect
Owner - JFC Market Management, Inc. / Blogger - The Natural Foods Geezer
5dI’m not sure about ROC, but my history with certified organic led me to believe that the majority of customers driving adoption could afford it and adopted it because they believed it was ‘better for me’ and not because it was ‘better for everyone’. The best reason to support organic agriculture was to reduce harm in the environment which was better ‘for everyone’. I think it’s clear that it was only a minority of organic shoppers who were in it for ‘altruism’ of planetary health, and the rest were your ‘Whole Foods Moms’ who believed it was better for them and their families. Even today this is the case. It’s why organic agriculture has never scaled in the US food marketplace. It’s expensive, not supported by government subsidy and the consumer base is well-heeled ‘better for me’ shoppers and less well-heeled altruistic shoppers. I don’t see why ROC wouldn’t be ‘same story, new readers’ - a new generation of these two groups. While I think the need for ROC at massive scale is a planetary imperative if we are to maintain soil health for future generations, I am world-weary enough to believe that unless governments across the globe incent ROC and punish chemical ag, we’re looking at a sequel to the original movie.