Company: Sensient Natural Ingredients

Website: www.sensientnaturalingredients.com

Ingredient Snapshot: Sensient Natural Ingredients (SNI) is pleased to introduce California-grown organic garlic. Joining SNI’s growing portfolio of USDA certified and Non-GMO Project Verified organic products, the organic garlic meets the rigorous standards of Certasure, Sensient’s promise for quality organic products.

“The newly-launched Certasure program is our way of bringing transparency and authenticity to the organic products we grow,” says Ryan Goularte, general manager of Sensient Natural Ingredients. “Today’s organic supply chain is highly fragmented, not always consistent in product performance or availability, and is often opaque in its sources. At Sensient, we add value to our customers by delivering an organic product that meets expected quality standards year in and year out while ensuring that the end consumer can trust their labels for an authentic and sustainable organic supply chain. 

“When Sensient created Certasure, our goal was to build a vertically integrated production line that was more than in-factory, processing guidelines,” Goularte explains. “Certasure starts from the ground up, with the first decisions we make centered around soil selection and seed development. From there, our garlic seed is propagated through a conventional breeding program, planted and harvested by our own employees, dehydrated and packed at our dedicated facilities, and then run through our rigorous quality and testing protocols.”

To ensure the best-quality garlic from seed to shelf, Sensient’s Certasure process:

• Ensures the organic status of the growing area
• Provides dedicated organic personnel to monitor our crops, as well as those grown in close proximity 
• Avoids allergens, such as peanuts, as part of crop rotation
• Builds partnerships with experienced organic growers which are dedicated to furthering organic growing practices
• Prohibits synthetic pesticides and monitors potential threats to organic farming practices

“Sensient works closely with our organic growers, many with whom we have had relationships for more than 20 years,” says Tony Rutherford, superintendent operations at Sensient Natural Ingredients. “Our long-term partners in conventional crop production also have an extensive background in organic production. It takes years to build these relationships, so we really treasure our growers and the network we built in the agricultural community.

Certasure provides a window into SNI’s industry-leading network of growers and grower relationships, further showcasing its consistent and high-quality growth, harvesting and processing systems as well as a strong commitment to innovation and expansion into new product lines.

“The Certasure organic program is exciting for us,” Goularte says. “Our formula begins with what we know best – cultivation of onion and garlic – and we have built on those learnings to make the small tweaks necessary to be successful in organic farming. As we continue to increase our program and work to enhance our organic farming practices, we focus on ways to improve efficiency and costs, making organics more affordable and available to consumers.”

In addition to Non-GMO Project verification, SNI’s California-grown garlic, onion and parsley lines meet BRC Global Standards and are certified kosher, halal and gluten-free.