Poor Economy Folds 2009 Tradeshow
Posted - January 20, 2009
Cancelled: earthNOWexpo 2009
A green retail fair scheduled for June 1-2, 2009 at the Las Vegas Convention Center has been cancelled.
earthNOWexpo, a national trade show dedicated to the green retail industry, has been cancelled due to poor sales and other organizational reasons.
Organizers report that green product manufacturers and service suppliers were reluctant to invest marketing dollars for this year’s trade show. Convention attendance has declined over the past two years thanks to ongoing budget cuts at many firms, they report.
Efforts to co-locate the show with the American Craft Retailer Expo in an attempt to revive the show failed, organizers said.
Companies contracted for exhibit space for earthNOWexpo 2009 should soon receive a letter regarding booth space refunds.
Africa at BioFach 2009
Posted - January 18, 2009
Africa Pavilion Going Strong for BioFach 2009
Africa will again makes its presence known at BioFach. After great success with its first Africa Pavilion at the 2008 edition of the Nuremberg, Germany, fair, 2009 fair visitors will again enjoy African designs, colours, sounds and flavours.
Last year, the Africa Pavilion gathered 73 exporters exhibiting from 13 African countries, generating favourable coverage and sales. This year over 100 exporters, export promotion agencies and non-governmental organizations will showcase specialities from Sub-Saharan African countries, connecting buyers and suppliers. According to organizers Grolink and Agroeco, this year, around 35 stands with 120 exhibitors from 14 African countries will be exhibiting a full range of organic certified products.
Products to be displayed include cashew nuts, cereals, cocoa, coconut oil, coffee, cotton, dairy, dried fruit, essential oils, fertilizers (organic, of course), flowers, fruits, spices, nuts, herbs, hibiscus, honey, wax, macadamia, natural products, oilseed, processed food, pulses, rice, sesame, shea butter, spices, tea and vegetables.
Countries represented are: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The 2009 Africa Pavilion will occupy 500 square metres of space; Uganda alone will occupy 90 square meters.
Products to be displayed include cashew nuts, cereals, cocoa, coconut oil, coffee, cotton, dairy, dried fruit, essential oils, fertilizers (organic, of course), flowers, fruits, spices, nuts, herbs, hibiscus, honey, wax, macadamia, natural products, oilseed, processed food, pulses, rice, sesame, shea butter, spices, tea and vegetables.
Organizations cooperating with Grolink and Agroeco in the development of the project include IFOAM, ITC, Organic Exchange, Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, NOGAMU (a Ugandan agricultural movement), TOPAZ, Hivos and the Triodos Foundation.
If the Africa Pavilions at Biofach 2009 and 2010 show results similar to those in 2008, organizers will consider to celebrate Africa as Continent of the Year in BioFach 2011.
Visit http://www.organicafrica2009.com and send any requests to africa2009@grolink.se.
Organic in the Personal Care Aisle
Posted - January 12, 2009
A Pretty Controversy
By Adrian Larose
A new European “organic” cosmetics standard has reignited debate over what it should take to be labeled organic in the personal care aisle, and who should be involved in making those decisions. The Cosmos (Cosmetic Organic) Standard is being developed by seven major European organizations, including EcoCert, BDIH and the Soil Association.
Certifiers, manufacturers, and industry organizations have all come under fire regarding how similar or different from organic food regulations organic personal care (including cosmetics and hygiene) products should be. Some argue what consumers put on their skin and give their children should be as healthy and natural as anything they eat, while others argue the non-organic – for now – necessity of certain large-scale chemical processes and ingredients.
Consumers already face a formidable array of various certified organic, made with organic, and natural claims as they purchase healthier ways to care for themselves. Between big names like the Soil Association and EcoCert, industry alliances such as Cosmos (in Europe) and Oasis (in North America), and various “natural” standards, there is no one acknowledged central player.
The USDA’s NOP food standard could be applied to personal care, perhaps with minor changes, many in the industry have suggested. “My company, Organic Essence, only makes USDA 95% to 100%- certified organic,” said Ellery West, president of Organic Essence. “Many large, established concerns claim that most body care products cannot be made to USDA made with standards, not to mention certified organic standards. They are wrong.”
“They have a tremendous investment in their current business models, and their branding strategies are well set,” West argues. “It is much more cost-effective to make your brand look natural, and advertise it as such, then to actually make a genuine organic product.” Her firm has just created biodegradable packaging for its lip balm and shea butters, green products in many senses of the word.
Not all standards are created equal. The Organic Consumers Association, a US consumer advocates group, gave the US NOP food standard 5 stars (when applied to bodycare), the Oasis US industry-led standard 0.5 stars, the Soil Association 3, US NSF standard 3.5, “natural” standard Natrue 0.5, and EcoCert zero.
“Consumers automatically assume that the entire product is organic and that the product itself is certified organic,” Michelle Thomas, owner of US wholesale distributor KISO Organics, said of organic labelling in personal care. “This is very rarely the case.” While a USDA NOP product (whether food or personal care) must have 95% organic ingredients and meet other requirements to feature an organic label, and at least 70% organic ingredients to have a made with organic label, standards such as Cosmos could allow firms to apply “organic” labels with organic content of as low as 20%.
Labels that use large-print, simple “organic” wording without being clear about the percentages are one hot-button issue. Being the big name star, EcoCert is pointed at as not being clear with consumers about what the word “organic” means on its diverse labels; just to look at the list of approved raw materials on its website requires a password given only to organizations that register with EcoCert.
“Personally, I will only use products that are certified organic to food grade standards,” said Thomas. Others argue such standards eliminate too many reasonable options.
Supply-chain issues do exist, West said. For instance, David Bronner of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, generally very supportive of stringent, food-safe standards, highlighted a complex manufacturing process that turns oils into key cosmetic ingredients. “The operations that do this are very capital-intensive, huge-volume operations, and impossible to get a small dedicated batch run with certified organic oil exclusively within any reasonable cost-efficiency structure,” he said, his firm having researched the topic. Organic operations do not yet consume enough of the end ingredient, he suggested, to finance an organic run-through in such a processing plant.
Still, allowing these difficult ingredients to “sunset” by permitting use for several years until the organic supply chain improves is not frank with consumers, West said. “Though well meaning, these new standards will not give health conscious consumers what they want other than confusion as to what ‘organic’ really means.”
Even water is a problem. Standards approach it differently. The USDA NOP considers it neutral – neither organic nor non-organic. If a product is, say, 70% water (as plenty of personal care items are), only the remaining 30% is considered. “Organic consumers know that the non-organic content cannot be more than 5% by non-water product weight,” Bronner said of certified organic NOP personal care.
The Cosmos standard requires 20% organic content. It counts water as non-organic, seemingly justifying this low percentage. Yet, Bonner said, “there is no implicit and accurate disclosure of non-organic non-water content” – which might constitute up to 80% of the product.
Large organizations are already taking sides. Cosmos members account for more than 1,000 certified companies and 11,000 products in about 40 countries. Firms like Clorox, a large US conventional firm, are buying up “natural” consumer-oriented companies such as Burt’s Bees, a purchase Clorox made in 2008.
Some small entrepreneurs see their own position as an advantage, though. “Small, nimble firms can innovate circles around the established behemoths. Size and scale can get in the way of innovation,” West said. Little firms have the flexibility to create genuinely organic product and standards.
And innovation is just what is needed to help gradually develop a uniform, accepted standard as to what “organic” will mean when a consumer wanders out of the produce section and into the personal care aisle.
