Spotlight on Canadian Organic Leaders
The Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA) held its annual 2024 Organic Leadership Awards on April 2, 2024. The evening gala celebrated the 15th anniversary of Canada regulating organic products, and honouring innovators and visionaries of the organic industry.
Set against the scenic backdrop of Seasons in the Park restaurant in Vancouver, BC, attendees came together to applaud organic achievements, savour local cuisine, and acknowledge the trailblazers driving innovation in the organic sector. This marked the ninth consecutive year that COTA celebrated these prestigious awards, shining a light on Canadian leaders who are propelling the country's organic sector to unprecedented levels of success.
Congratulations to the 2024 award recipients:
Organic Champion of the Year – Salt Spring Coffee
Organic Supplier of the Year – Barentz
Outstanding Leadership in Organic Science – Derek Lynch, PhD, PAg
Organic Retailer of the Year – Healthy Planet
Organic Innovator of the Year – Greenhouse Juice Co.
Organic Farming Award – Prairie Heritage Seeds (PHS Organics)
Distinguished Organic Supporter of the Year – MP Alistair MacGregor
Organic Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Leader of the Year Award – Nuts For Cheese
The Organic Champion of the Year was proudly presented to Salt Spring Coffee. Salt Spring Coffee was founded on Salt Spring Island in 1996 by Mickey McLeod and Robbyn Scott with a mission to change the world for the better through coffee. Salt Spring Coffee has been roasting organic coffee exclusively since the early 2000s and has been actively involved in improving the environment in a myriad of ways, including a zero-waste program, a responsible purchasing policy, early adoption of sustainable packaging, and supporting producers in improving their operations.
A long-time leader that helped popularize organic coffee in BC, Salt Spring Coffee is now championing the next wave in organic farming: Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC). ROC is a set of agricultural practices that allow for the cultivation of crops in a way that has minimal impact on the environment, helps return it to a healthy state, and sequesters carbon. Salt Spring Coffee is working with its producers to support them in adopting these practices and has released a coffee collection for its 25th anniversary made from beans that have been grown using ROC methods. Salt Spring is the first and only ROC coffee roaster in Canada.