Ecocert Group acquires NICS!

As many of you may remember, NICS lost our founder, Dave Engel, on March 14, 2017. He was an entrepreneur, farmer, and founding father of many certification agencies and related organic programs supporting the organic movement, just like many of you.

Upon Dave’s passing, his wife, Dr. Marta W. Engel, DVM, assumed ownership of NICS. Marta has worked alongside the NICS staff to keep the company moving forward so we could continue to be a part of your organic lives. She is soon to be 70 now, and has chosen to pass NICS to another family-owned organization, Ecocert, whom she believes will continue to uphold Dave’s legacy and the values NICS was founded upon.

“Ecocert is an ecologically minded company whose mission is a lot like NICS’s,” stated Marta. “With the new ownership NICS will be able to offer even better services to our organic farms and businesses, which have always been the lifeblood of our company.”

“We are delighted and excited to continue the work initiated by NICS’s founders and keep developing quality organic farming,” said Philippe Thomazo, CEO of Ecocert Group.

Ecocert Group also operates Ecocert ICO, an NOP-accredited certification agency in Plainfield, Indiana. The acquisition will not affect the organic certification of farms and businesses associated with NICS or Ecocert ICO, though many new certification options will soon become available to NICS clients as a result.

See the link to a letter from us and the official press release below.

Marta Engel (center) with Philippe Thomazo (right), CEO of Ecocert, and Vincent Morel (left),
Director of Americas for Ecocert.