PORTLAND, OR – Organically Grown Company (OGC) BB #:152299, the Northwest-based organic produce wholesaler, distributor, and grower marketer, introduced a brand update today featuring a fresh take on its logo, truck-wraps, packaging, website, and more.
The 42-year old company embarked on brand refresh work in 2019, one year after launching the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Perpetual Purpose Trust (SFAPPT) and becoming the first company in the United States to transition to Trust ownership. OGC has established its new governance and is adapting to a changing market with a renewed commitment to independence and mission into perpetuity. This time of reflection on its accomplished past and vision for the future presented a perfect opportunity for the company to update their brands.
“We engaged an internal team of longtime OGC Stakeholders to inform the work, and a talented external team to drive the creative process,” said CEO Elizabeth Darrow Nardi. “Today’s launch is a milestone for sure, but we see this brand identity update as part of the journey we’re taking with our Stakeholders – our growers, customers, coworkers, community and mission aligned investors – as we evolve and innovate within our industry and marketplace.”
OGC’s new look builds on and retains the essence of their legacy logo and company values. It visualizes the company’s connection to produce and farms with a graphic and earthy hand. It reimagines the individual elements of the past logo in a new way – a bounty of produce is embraced by rays of sun and a hoe is symbolic of the hard-working spirit of the OGC supply chain. Embedded within the illustration is a ladybug, a valuable friend of the organic farmer and the namesake of OGC’s branded organic produce line.
Ladybug Brand Identity & Strategy Update – Becoming More Inclusive for Organic Growers in the NW & Beyond
As part of OGC’s brand refresh work, the company also updated the identity and brand strategy for its organic produce line, Ladybug Brand. Created more than a decade ago as a service for its Northwest grower partners, Ladybug Brand gave independent, certified organic farmers a way to market their produce under a common label through OGC’s network, predominately to wholesale buyers outside the Northwest region.
Now, to increase inclusivity and expand the program to more farmers, Ladybug Brand will represent premium organic fruits andvegetables grown in the Northwest and beyond. This strategic shift allows OGC to leverage its relationships with farmers outside the region who are interested in taking advantage of OGC’s expertise as a grower-marketer and logistics partner.
“Sourcing for Ladybug Brand will no longer be defined by geography, but rather by our values and mission which focus on sustaining organic agriculture and a fair and just supply chain,” said Mike Boyle, OGC’s VP of Sales and Sourcing. “As a company deeply rooted in the Northwest, we will always prioritize sourcing from local farmers during our peak growing season, and then expand beyond our backyard to meet the needs of our year-round wholesale customers.”
With this brand update, packaging featuring the new Ladybug icon debuted earlier this summer and fall with Northwest-grown organic blueberries, kiwi berries and cranberries. The Ladybug Brand product line will expand over time to include a wide variety of certified organic commodity and specialty items grown by farms big and small.
About Organically Grown Company
Founded in 1978 by a few gardeners, small-scale farmers, hippies, environmental activists and dreamers living near Eugene, OR, today, Organically Grown Company sources, aggregates and distributes fresh, organically grown produce to retailers and eaters across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. For more than 40 years, the company’s progressive and entrepreneurial spirit has fueled its mission and growth, meeting the demand for organics in the marketplace while supporting its community of farmers. Yet at the core of OGC is a simple idea that has held steady since the beginning: organic agriculture is necessary for a healthy planet and healthy people. Their goal is to support organic agriculture and help it thrive, by doing business in a way that is good, clean, and fair.
