Two long-time organic experts create powerful partnership to strengthen integrity of global organic supply chains.
Respected organic industry advisors Gwendolyn Wyard and Kim Dietz are thrilled to announce the launch of their new business, Strengthening Organic Systems, LLC — the only advisory firm focused entirely on organic fraud prevention, supply chain investigations and compliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s organic anti-fraud regulations.
SOS was founded to strengthen the resilience and overall integrity of global organic supply chains by assisting businesses in developing effective organic fraud prevention plans and compliance practices. Its immediate area of concentration will be the support of the implementation of the Agriculture Department’s Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rule, the sweeping and historic update to U.S. organic regulations announced by the federal government earlier this year to better deter and detect organic fraud.
“The importance of the Agriculture Department’s SOE rule for the organic sector cannot be emphasized enough, and now is the time to get it right,” said Wyard. “Our company was formed to guide organic businesses through the SOE implementation process, and to assure not only the adoption of robust organic fraud prevention plans but to assist in supply chain mapping and the identification of high-risk ingredients and other supply-chain vulnerabilities.”
“As long-time leaders and regulatory experts in the organic space, we are excited to help organic businesses implement measures to ensure the authenticity of the organic ingredients and products they are buying and selling,” said Dietz. “SOS will use its expertise to support the new requirements of the federal organic standards and help set certifying agencies and companies throughout the organic supply chain up for success.”
Founding partners Wyard and Dietz have over 65 years of combined experience in organic policy, certification, and leadership. Wyard is a well-known expert and educator on the organic standards. Most recently she served for more than a dozen years as the Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs for the Organic Trade Association (OTA). While at the trade association, Wyard was the lead developer and author of the association’s Organic Fraud Prevention Guide, now the industry standard reference for excellence in achieving integrity across complex organic global supply chains.
Dietz is an instrumental organic leader. She holds a master’s degree in global food law and specializes in organic standards and policy. Early in her career, Dietz spearheaded the development of the first organic flavors and has continued to work to support the growth of the organic flavor industry. She has directly overseen 13 organic handling operations, including the management of the successful certification of the first certified organic handling facility in the United States.
Strengthening Organic Systems has been recently named a Trusted Advisor for the Organic Trade Association’s Organic Fraud Prevention Solutions. A Trusted Advisor is a category of professional qualified to advise and assist companies with the trade association’s anti-fraud program. Trusted Advisors can go in-depth with enrolled participants to carry out a vulnerability assessment and develop an Organic Fraud Prevention Plan, a requirement of the SOE Rule.
SOS is positioned to serve the organic food, non-food and retail sectors.
About Strengthening Organic Systems
Organic fraud prevention. Supply chain integrity. Training. Organic fraud reporting.
SOS was founded to improve the resilience and overall integrity of global organic supply chains. We help businesses comply with the USDA’s Strengthening Organic Enforcement Rule (SOE) and protect their brands from organic fraud.