Solid results for BioFach and Vivaness 2010
Posted - February 28, 2010
Solid results for BioFach and Vivaness 2010
By Warren Beaumont
About 43,500 trade visitors (2009: 46,771) defied the crisis and streamed into the exhibition centre in N
At BioFach Congress: Sophisticated consumers demand more
Posted - February 27, 2010
At BioFach Congress: Sophisticated consumers demand more
By Warren Beaumont
A major market trend is that consumers are becoming more sophisticated. Originally, consumers were buying organic food for health reasons and ecological reasons. However, consumers today are becoming better informed. They still care about the environment and today, climate change has made the environment more important. They are also concerned about the chemicals in products and are buying more natural products that are
Euro-Nat: Partnering Bolivian quinoa for 20 years
Posted - February 11, 2010
Euro-Nat: Partnering Bolivian quinoa for 20 years
By Angela Mallaroni
In 1988, entrepreneur Didier Perreol, discovered quinoa at a casual encounter during an exhibition in Geneva. He was looking for a unique cereal product to stand out from his 75 product line his firm Euro-Nat had recently introduced to natural health food stores in France.
Impressed with the grain, Mr Perreol went to Bolivia to meet with ANAPQUI, the only cooperative of small quinoa producers in the country at the time. With his first 500 kg order of Royal Quinoa, Mr Perreol went back home with the commitment to introduce quinoa to France. The emblematic company brand Primeal was born, and an intensive communications campaign followed.
Primeal Royal Quinoa was a success. It was versatile, easy to prepare and mix in many recipes and inspired Mr. Perreol and others to publish quinoa cookbooks. For the next ten years Euro-Nat imported quinoa from the producers in Bolivia and the Primeal brand entered every natural health food store in France. In 2001, Euro-Nat started distribution of quinoa products to major supermarket chains under private label.
To develop a stable project with constant delivery and traceability of the best quinoa available, Mr Perreol made a further commitment: to set up shop in Bolivia itself. In 1997, he founded Jatariy, (
Organic cosmetic demand grows
Posted - February 1, 2010
Organic cosmetic demand grows
According to British market research company Organic Monitor, the global market for natural and organic cosmetics is growing by over US $1 billion a year and exceeded US $7 billion in 2008. In Brazil, the Ministry of Agriculture is designing a regulation for organic cosmetics.
Instituto Biodinamico (IDB), a leading certification agency, reports strong demand from cosmetic ingredient manufacturers. It currently has around 40 certified companies of which only four are certified cosmetic manufacturers. One of those certified companies is family-owned Magia dos Aromas with an output of 2,000 units per month of vegetable-based cosmetics. (last sentence is OK?)
The FSC label for forestry products is also popular among small and medium companies, which is leading Organica of Santana do Paraiba, a manufacturer of cosmetics and personal care products, to set up franchises from 2010 onwards.
Biofach says the international natural cosmetics market is still growing. The difficult economic environment has astonishingly little effect on the sector
Fair trade, ethical food support grows
Posted - February 1, 2010
Fair trade, ethical food support grows
By Warren Beaumont
Nearly a third or 30 percent of UK shoppers say they have specifically purchased locally produced food over the last month, double the number in 2006, according to new consumer research just released by UK-based food and grocery analysts IGD.
Support for ethically produced foods in general has withstood the pressures of an 18-month recession and is in fact growing, despite the tough economic conditions. When asked about food they have specifically purchased over the last month, shoppers responded: 30 percent locally produced food (up from 15percent in 2006); 27 percent Fairtrade products (up from 9 percent); 18 percent products with high animal welfare standards (up from 11percent).
Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive, IGD, said: “These figures prove what we have been saying throughout the recession
