Where High Standards

About OTCO

Oregon Tilth provides over 40 years of hard-earned credibility for businesses that want to be sustainability leaders.

We got started in 1974, planning and failing and learning how to create our own organic standards from the ground up. Years later, our founders slept on hotel room floors in Washington, D.C. with other organic pioneers to help create the national organic label we see in households today.

Throughout it all, we’ve built a reputation for quality, validation, and dependability. Our certification services help you demonstrate a commitment to the highest global standards in food and farming.

Beyond certification, why we’re unique

As a nonprofit, we invest 15 percent of our certification fees to advocate, educate and build a sustainable marketplace.

From supporting farm businesses to building organic supply chains, our team is made up of specialists that support our clients success in transforming food and agriculture.

Sharing technical know-how

• No one can know everything. Our client service delivery teams connect the right people with your certified business’s needs.
• Our educational services develop and share resources to elevate success across the organic supply chain. From sharing tools to increase farm viability to crash courses on transitioning to organic, we help businesses tackle production issues and questions.
• A multi-year partnership with Oregon State University identifies needs and supports innovation through a premier organic extension program.
• Through our partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), we develop organic-focused technical resources for NRCS staff and support farmers access to conservation assistance programs and education.

Protecting organic integrity

• We provide in-the-field feedback with the National Organic Standards Board and Accredited Certifiers Association to push for rigorous and sensible changes that maintain the integrity of organic products.
• As a member of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, we work alongside an alliance of more than 100 grassroots organizations to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities in the U.S.
• Our participation as members and affiliation with the Oregon Organic Coalition and National Organic Coalition ensure the preservation of organic integrity.

Growing sustainable marketplaces

• We offer additional certification services such as Bee Better Certified and Global Organic Textiles Exchange to transform the food industry and others to more sustainable places of business.
• An Oregon Tilth certification provides access to marketing support, from our well-known logos of assurance and credibility to tools for direct market connection with consumers.
• We provide ongoing campaigns on how organic benefits biodiversity, conserves natural resources and fights climate change.