With D’Addario Learn & Earn, we share some interesting D'Addario facts, then ask you a few questions to test your knowledge. Every quiz you complete will get you 75 Player Circle points and that much closer to taking home D’Addario products.
D’Addario produces the world’s first and only USDA Certified Organic reeds for saxophone and clarinet. D’Addario Organics is currently offered in our Select Jazz and Reserve lines only. The performance of these reeds hasn’t changed—they still offer the same tone and feel you’ve come to love—but they’re now grown, cultivated, and produced using 100% organic processes. By 2025 every all-cane D’Addario reed will be Certified Organic.
Seven years prior to Select Jazz and Reserve achieving certification, Jim D’Addario challenged our Woodwinds team to convert all growing and manufacturing processes to USDA Certified Organic practices. However, the seeds of our organic production had been planted well before that. The farm in France where our cane is grown had been slowly transitioning to wholly organic farming since 2008.
USDA guidelines address, among many factors, soil quality, pest and weed control, as well as use of additives. To be Certified Organic, soil tests must reveal that the soil where the cane is grown is completely free of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers for three consecutive years. There can be no chemical cleaning ahead of the cane shipment and any changes to cultivation, preparation, or transport processes must be approved first to maintain certification.
Our new organic reeds are not only made from sustainably grown wood while being manufactured and shipped, but they’re also individually packaged with paper, not plastic, boldly defying the industry trend while eliminating 70,000 pounds of plastic waste each year.