Press Releases

February 2010

Organic products offer enjoyment and well-being, but they can do even more: organic agriculture is good for the environment and climate and thus for succeeding generations. Plus the corporate philosophy of organic manufacturers is also orientated towards social aspects like fairness.

Theme of the Year: Organic + Fair focuses on organic added value
According to the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) of Bonn in Germany, sales of fair trade products in the retail trade amounted to 2.9 billion US dollars in 2008. Two-thirds of all fair trade products meanwhile come from organic farming. Fair production and trading conditions are becoming increasingly important for customers. So BioFach and Vivaness 2010 focus attention on fair trade with organic products.

In the special area in hall 5, visitors can discover and see 96 product presentations by 52 exhibitors from 14 countries that reflect all the facets of fair trade. 14 lectures at the associated Fair & Ethical Trade Forum provide extensive information for visitors thirsting for knowledge. The topics include: “Organic is good – Organic & fair is BETTER (VALUE)”, “One fair idea, competing standards – Is harmonization possible?”, and “From fair trade to ethical cooperation: Is the traditional interpretation of fair trade still up to date?”

New highlight in the Textil-Area: fashion shows on runway in hall 8
At the second edition of the Textil-Area in 2010, 49 exhibitors convince the visitors with another attraction in addition to the stylish and puristic ambience and a variety of new creations: fashion shows take place several times a day on a runway in the Textil-Area in hall 8. Exhibitors from altogether 13 countries present their collections to fans of eco fashion and natural textiles. Newcomers: Denmark, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Pakistan. Ethically and ecologically correct clothing is booming. Current worldwide sales of organic textiles are about 5.3 billion EUR, according to experts from Organic Exchange, the American lobby group for organic cotton. The Textile Forum at the BioFach Congress provides market information in 13 lectures, with topics ranging from “We’re already established! Eco fashion in figures” and “Labelling tomorrow’s textiles: Which logo will catch on?” to “Fibres of the future: Of seaweed and sawdust”.

Organic wine – fair trade wine popular too!
Winegrowers from all over the world again present their products from organic vineyards at the get-together for wine experts in 2010. 263 exhibitors have registered from 24 countries, including 61 from Germany. The international leader is Italy (78), followed by Spain (50), France (30) and Austria (14). More and more organic winegrowers are convincing consumers with the enjoyable products of their craft. And the customers increasingly reach for organic wine from fair trade. Some 5 % of the wine exhibitors at BioFach present fair trade organic wines. 557,000 litres of wine with a fair trade label were sold worldwide in 2008, 72 % more than the year before. The organic share was 63 %.

MUNDUSvini BioFach: 5 Special Gold, 70 Gold and 145 Silver medals
The wine segment has a new highlight in 2010: BioFach and MUNDUSvini/Meininger Verlag have organized the first MUNDUSvini BioFach International Organic Wine Award. The premiere started with 622 organic wines from 19 countries in the world, which exceeded the target set for the wine competition initiated jointly by MUNDUSvini and the World Organic Trade Fair BioFach. 390 red, 213 white and 17 rosé wines plus 2 Blanc de noirs from organic vineyards faced the critical verdict of the jury of international experts. The result is impressive! A total of 220 medals were awarded. The organic wines entered won five Special Gold, 70 Gold and 145 Silver medals. The awards for the best wines are presented at BioFach immediately after the official opening ceremony. Visitors are invited to try the winning wines themselves in the Wine Hall.

Another established highlight in the Wine Hall (hall 4A) is the Olive Oil Bar, where the some 75 olive oils entered for the Olive Oil Award will be tasted and the best chosen by the visitors again this year. Altogether 226 exhibitors from 24 countries present the green culinary classic at the world’s leading exhibition. Italy with 85 exhibitors is also the leader here, but Spain, Greece and the whole Mediterranean region are also well represented.

Vivaness 2010: Natural + Beautiful, Green + Social – Organic + Fair!
Vivaness, the international platform for natural personal care and wellness parallel to BioFach, has been known and valued by enthusiastic trade buyers of natural personal care products for three years. 182 manufacturers from 21 countries present their products here in 2010. Germany with 87 manufacturers heads the statistics, followed by France (29), Italy (16), Great Britain (12) and Austria (8).

The international natural cosmetics market is still growing. The difficult economic environment has astonishingly little effect on the sector with its stable growth record of many years. According to a sample analysis by the international market research institute IRI Information Research of Nürnberg, Germany, natural cosmetics achieved 7.6 % sales growth in the German retail food trade and drugstores in the first half of 2009. The whole German market for certified natural cosmetics grew by almost 7 % to 717 million EUR in 2009 and reached a market share of 5.6 % of total sales of cosmetics.

Slight rise for international organic market
Worldwide sales of organic products topped 50 billion US dollars in 2008, which means the market has doubled since 2003. Initial estimates by Organic Monitor of Great Britain indicate that the international market should continue to grow, although at a lower level. The whole market and the sector can look forward to higher growth rates in 2010, according to Managing Director Amarjit Sahota.

Germany: organic stable despite crisis – growing quantity of products sold
Initial estimates by the German Federation of the Organic Food Industry (BÖLW), Berlin, show that organic sales in 2009 settled at the previous year’s level with 5.85 billion EUR.The latest figures from market researcher GfK of Nürnberg, Germany, show thatalthough the value of organic food and drink purchased dropped slightly (-1 %), the amount purchased increased (+2.3 %).The clear winners arethe delivery services (online home delivery services) with +20.2 % and the drugstores (+17.7 %),but producers and direct marketing also recorded growth of 4.3 % and the organic food trade 2.2 % despite the crisis.German households spent an average of 84 EUR on organic products in 2009, which corresponds to 3.2 % of total spending on food.

Good prospects for the specialist organic trade
Klaus Braun from the communication consultants of the same name in Speyer, Germany, confirms excellent prospects for the traditional shops selling organic food:“The specialist organic trade has grown by 3.1 % in 2009 after adjustment for space, i.e. on existing sales space.If the extensions and new shops are included, the result is 6.3 % growth in sales.The average costs remained constant and profits were improved slightly,which produced better operating results.”

Eco events: the BioFach family & more
Besides the BioFach family with meanwhile five daughters in Japan, China, America, Brazil and India, the portfolio of NürnbergMesse includes other events for the green market of the future: ExpoSustentat, the sustainability exhibition parallel to BioFach América Latina, the international Sustainability Conference SusCon (15/16 June 2010), and the Natural Cosmetics Conference in Nürnberg, which takes place this year for the third time from 14–15 September.

Other BioFach events:

• BioFach Japan, Tokyo:21–23 September 2010
• BioFach China, Shanghai:27–29 May 2010
• BioFach America, Boston:14–16 October 2010
• BioFach América Latina and ExpoSustentat, Sao Paulo:3–5 November 2010
• BioFach India, Mumbai:7–9 December 2010