Mercaris plans to continue its initiatives to match buyers and sellers of organic cream after holding its first auction of 2020 on Feb. 26.

The event featured strong participation, with the number of participants tripling from its fourth-quarter 2019 auction. It also marked the first live auction for Mercaris, with a full order stack, multiple sellers participating and a narrowing bid/ask spread throughout the event.

“One of the big benefits of this is better price transparency,” Mercaris director of market operations Lizzie Ekeberg said. “Wednesday’s auction provided valuable market insight about where industry participants are offering organic cream, with company identities held confidential.”

In 2019, Mercaris oversaw trade of nearly 100,000 lb. of organic cream in quarterly auctions through its online platform. Mercaris will hold three more organic cream auctions this year, with the second-quarter auction projected for late May.

“We’re continuing to see an increase in participation, and we’re excited to build on that throughout 2020,” Ekeberg said.

Auctions are in real-time, and all offers and bids are visible. Participants include dairy processors, brokers, food companies and more.

Since 2013, Mercaris has been helping its customers capitalize on the growing demand for organic and non-genetically modified organism (GMO) foods by providing market access and services tailored to the needs of the identity-preserved agriculture industry.

Mercaris focuses its data and services on identity-preserved commodities, including organic and non-GMO corn, soybeans, meal and organic wheat and markets for other small grains across all regions of the U.S. and Canada. It also recently launched an organic dairy initiative. Mercaris maintains an online trading platform -- a pioneering tool that enables buyers and sellers to find new markets and more profitably trade organic and non-GMO commodities.