Workshop participation – Getting the most out of the Conference:

We’ve eliminated the terms ‘introductory’ and ‘advanced’ for the 28 Saturday-Sunday workshops. For 2012, anyone can attend ANY workshop on this program and this has always been the case. In many cases, the workshop is a continuation of previous years’ data (thus ‘advanced’) and that the speaker has the option to defer any and all basic questions either **till the end of the workshop or **to a private conversation with you out in the Centre 6 Coffee Shop at a later time.

Some of the 3-hour Friday seminar organizers have spent literally dozens of hours preparing their panels so the flow of time is critical. We did retain the “Introductory” or “Advanced” listing for the 4x 3-hour Friday programs because these are more involved programs, in many cases having up to 4-6 presenters.  If you register for Friday, try to take in the $50 Organic Dinner late that afternoon.

As a novice sitting through an obviously advanced workshop here are some helpful hints:

• take good notes
• read your 80-page Proceedings booklet carefully
• gather business cards, contact names or pamphlets at the end of the talk
• plan to ‘gather as much info on this topic as you can for your own research

If you are unsuccessful at getting your question answered in a particular workshop, don’t despair. Write the question down and present it to an Expo exhibitor who will no doubt be happy to spend 20 minutes with you.  This is why the Guelph Expo is so exhausting – there are only so many conversations you can have in an hour !

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SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT “RELATED MEETINGS”  -  SEE SPECIAL MEETINGS ON TOP MENU.

There are numerous related gatherings, research reports, consultations and spontaneous public presentations which will be announced up to mid-January as they are confirmed:

• Organic Council of Ontario ‘Organic Awards’ – downtown Guelph on January 28, evening – contact Organic Council for details – www.organiccouncil.ca
• Saturday, Jan. 28, 12.00 pm, Organic Ag. Centre of Canada ‘Research Needs Meeting’ where any member of the general public can talk to Canada’s leading organic crop & livestock researchers to set priorities – Room UC335
• REAP-Canada AGM, Jan 29, 1.00 pm – CONTACT MEREDITH KUSHNIR, REAP-Canada for info – mkushnir@reap-canada.com
• Saturday, Jan. 28, 12.00 pm – Tony’s Sprouting Education Room – www.sproutgrowers.com- a noon lecture & discussion – Room UC332
• And several others with detailed info at the special meetings menu above

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Organic Sector Profiles

A lot of people have heard something about the Guelph Conference but don’t really see where it fits in the agricultural world. It is often called a ‘mid-winter organic experience’ and there is truth in that – everyone attending can take away a piece of the organic business for their own use during a late January period when seed catalogues appear on the coffee table and “spring is just around the corner.” Generally though, you couldn’t call the Guelph Conference a mainstream fair like the Royal Winter Fair (tens of thousands of consumers and producers gathering in a huge hall). In reality, Guelph has the air of a grassroots, regional, organic weekend event which can in a good year welcome up to 2000 people over the entire ‘Guelph Organic Week.’ Going into its 31st year, this Conference has grown right alongside the Canadian organic movement which traces its roots back to the 1950′s, 1960′s and 1970′s.

For all those interested in how food marketing exhibitions work, there are virtually 100 shows in Canada that you can attend. These range from grocery marketing shows (Grocery Innovations/Toronto-October) to holistic health shows (Whole Life Expo/Toronto-November) to foodservice shows (Food & Beverage/March) to farmer equipment shows, to the COG-Toronto annual February show, to trade-only organic/natural health product shows (CHFA Expo East & West). In fact, the Guelph Conference encompasses many or all of these features/focuses, with a strong consumer component. The Guelph Conference, featuring free public Trade Expo entry and low workshop costs, makes it easy for anyone with a basic interest in organics to attend and see all of:

• farming exhibits
• 1-acre gardening advocates
• foodservice suppliers
• certificates – how to get certified, how to train on a farm, how to develop organic inputs
• processors & distributors selling bulk wholesale & truckload orders
• retail sales of organic products, seeds, books, tools
• public advocacy and quasi-political agricultural movements (some not so ‘quasi’)
• innovative technology and education programs in support of organics
• other important components of a quick-growing sector (solar, fair trade, home sprouting)

PARTICIPATING – The Guelph Conference serves at least 10 audiences

As just mentioned, many shows are ‘TRADE-ONLY’ – they are geared only to processors, distributors, retailers, etc. and do not have a public component. That is, they focus strictly on trade sales because distributors want to sell to retailers… but they don’t serve the consumer education component and the public can generally not enter these shows.

But the Guelph Conference & Expo has a wider focus – which takes in both the ‘trade aspect’ (processors selling organic crops and finished products to stores) as well as the ‘consumer aspect’ (presenting these organic products to you, for marketing, education and networking + educating you on where to buy). Thus, this event actually has at least 10 different audiences which can and do benefit from attending the Guelph Expo:

• Organic producers: certified and transitional producers can network with buyers, sellers, fellow organic producers, suppliers of organic-specific equipment and learn about organic training programs. These growers can also bring samples and try to sign long-term contracts with traders and buyers.
• Interested mainstream producers: a grower not familiar with organic systems can kick the tires, get introduced to organic certification standards, find out the prices being paid for organic crops so s/he can compare this to ‘commodity’ type prices, get comfortable with the 3-year organic transition to organics and network with all the educational/support/training bodies which guide farmers through transition.
• Consumers: sample many of the brands sold in organic food stores and supermarkets. These products will be at the Guelph Expo for consumers to taste, discuss, see, touch and buy, right on the show floor. Also, the Conference’s 35-workshop program is one of the best for educating consumers with relevant info. Everyone from “novice” right up to “the consumer ready to buy land and get into organic production on their own” should consider taking in a Guelph workshop.
• Retailers: store owners are an increasing component of the Guelph show. Retailers attend to source new organic products and to get these into their stores from the many distributors and brokers who attend the Expo. Retailers also link up with certified growers for future direct supply.
• Organic traders, processors & suppliers: these well-developed businesses come to network with their peers, buy and sell crops, services and products, go to private trader-business meetings and to trade-invite hospitality suites. Generally speaking, these trading companies add to the million $ economic aspect of this Conference.
• Researchers: this is an ideal spot for organic crop research to be born. One of the event’s sponsoring non-profit organizations (OACC – Organic Ag. Centre of Canada) is about to receive a national, multi-million $ organic research co-ordinating grant. Research projects on organic food viability are born at this show and you can talk directly to the organic researchers on Jan. 28, 12.00 noon in the “Research Needs Consultation” room, UC335.
• Media, both mainstream publications and organic-focused, niche newsletters: this is a perfect spot to gather story material, to research stories directly on a first-person basis with the marketers, to line up future advertisers and to get new writers and contributors. The Conference last year ran an Eco-Writer’s Intensive workshop for those wanting to forge a career. Check out the several booths with the Organic Media Partner sign hanging at their table – these are the confirmed supporters of organics. Our Media Relations professional, Katrina Simmons, can link with you pre-Conference or at the Conference (see Contacts for Katrina’s info).
• Academic professionals: University staff and graduate students can talk directly with the farmer activists in organic production. By coming out to the Expo, you can get the sense of the organic sector and then plan which new course materials need to be designed.  OACC (listed above) has a table right on the Main Level of the Expo and they can provide invaluable guidance in these issues.
• Students: both those who are ecologically-inclined and those who have only just begun to think about organic alternatives. Students can find jobs, get internships, do work-stints, buy and sample products, participate in various study programs – and in some cases “these students have their life-path changed while here” (Conf. Mgr’s comment: Hey, why not? Get involved… this could be a good career.) And for those students just walking through the U.C. who ‘stumble upon’ the Conference, please stop and try a sample of the organic fair trade chocolate !  FLASH: We just had an inquiry from a group of high school students in a ‘sustainability class’ and we strongly encourage this kind of attendance to take advantage of the cheap Saturday-Sunday student rates.
• Others not mentioned above: if you are simply an interested individual who has heard about various food claims (and may be skeptical of these) or someone who likes to read labels but who has never bought organic products, you should attend the Saturday-Sunday Expo. Nobody will ask you to commit to anything, to sign up for anything, to buy this or that membership, or to wear a button saying “I Grow An Organic Garden.” In other words, we welcome genuinely interested people who want to get the sense of what the food business is all about, without committing to anything. Actually, this is perfect – a deal, as they say. Cost: $0, except for maybe a $2 Guelph transit bus token plus $1 to hang up your coat and a $1.25 cup of organic cider – total cost $4.25.
• Hoping to see you there !

So to sum up, the Guelph Conference welcomes all interest. Organic is a business where you can be a consumer, producer, researcher, product developer and retailer all at the same time ! That’s organics!

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“Is history on our side?” – a retrospective commentary.

“All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; and Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” — Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

At first, when the Conference was getting rolling, 1982-1992, it was a novelty and really was considered as a passing fad by the media. In the next phase – the growth phase, from about 1992-2002, the event represented the increasing strength of organics as an economic reality (Europe, U.S., gaining momentum in Canada). So the sense was that the system was working hard to disprove the viability of the business model even though some big companies were emerging. In the current phase, 2002-2012, ‘organic’ is now a reality (as in the 3rd facet of the above laugh-threaten-join statement by Schopenhauer). Everyone from President’s Choice (TM) to the local farmers’ market has endorsed it. But this success has made it vulnerable.

Why – because organic has strict standards… and because the public tends to be swayed by the allure of inventive claims that growers and marketers make. However, that is one of the Conference’s main jobs – to present authentic, certified organic products from the producer-manufacturer ‘direct to the public.’ The motivated consumer who attends the Guelph show is very aware……. s/he is someone who is conversant in all the sub-issues in agriculture (GMO awareness, pesticides, adulteration, claims, environmental sustainability, reading the fine print on labels). This consumer is a loyal user and supporter, willing to spend a little more for a premium organic food product and very supportive of organic farmers wherever they can be met. Many consumers who attend our show also want to get into their own organic production at some point in the future on their own land. That’s why we focus on innovative training programs (several on the 2011 program) which will guide you into the farming business.

Finally, over the last 15 or 20 years, i.e. about 2/3 of our “generation,” the consumer has been presented with so many new organic product choices, as well as services which didn’t exist before now (on-line sourcing and Google references). Events like The Annual Guelph Conference have increased consumers’ organic product variety and selection, price and cosmetic appeal… and home food production. No doubt, many new products have come out of this show. This is what we work for – continued organic market development.

See you at the end of January for SEEDS OF CO-OPERATION !