VIVANESS 2008: NATURAL BEAUTY GLOBALLY  
Natural personal care is enjoying an international boom. The British market researcher Organic Monitor estimates the European market volume at some 1.1 billion EUR and worldwide sales at about 5 billion EUR. Germany heads the ranking of countries in Europe: German natural personal care manufacturers – including the world market leaders – registered sales of some 650 million EUR in 2006. This means natural personal care holds a share of about 6 % of the total German cosmetics market turnover of 11.4 billion EUR. At Vivaness 2008, the Trade Fair for Natural Personal Care and Wellness, around 180 exhibitors (2007: 161) are expected in hall 7A and part of hall 7 when the event takes place parallel to the World Organic Trade Fair BioFach for the second time from 21-24 February. The international get-together for the natural personal care market again takes place in a stylish feel-good ambience. The latest trends and a feast for the senses are guaranteed ! [+] 

BIOFACH 2008: FIRST ORGANIC OLIVE OIL AWARD CHOSEN BY VISITORS  
BioFach 2008 presents wine from certified organically grown grapes for the first time in hall 4A. But not only organic wine from all over the world moves into the modern, day-lit Wine Hall; the Olive Oil Bar also radiates a new brilliance there in the seventh year of its existence.
Combined with the trend topic wine and enhanced by culinary experiences, the Wine Hall offers the perfect ambience for the fascination of the international facets of organic olive oil.
From food tasting course to olive oil tasting, there will be much to appeal to the senses of the about 45,000 trade visitors from 21-24 February 2008. Newly introduced at BioFach 2008 is an award for the best olive oil from organic cultivation. The special feature of this award is that the exhibition visitors are the tasters and decide the winners. [+] 

2007 A RECORD YEAR FOR NEW ORGANIC SUPERMARKETS
The recently ended year excelled with 81 new organic stores and organic supermarkets (over 200 m² of sales space) opening in Germany in 2007. This figure includes the move of 17 small shops into larger premises. The number of new stores opened in the past years was between 40 and 60.
The average sales space of the new stores opened in 2007 was 486 m². The new outlets increased the total number of organic supermarkets in Germany to some 450. [+] 

FIRST EVER AFRICAN PAVILION AT BIOFACH  
At present, almost 100 companies have applied to exhibit in the BioFach African Pavilion. Visitors will enjoy African designs, colours, sounds and flavours. A piazza in the centre will make the pavilion an oasis that attracts visitors and offers them African coffee, tea, wine, snacks and new innovative beverages. On the country or sub-regional stands, exporters, national organic movements and export promotion agencies will showcase specialities from the Sub-Saharan countries. The pavilion will also serve as a hub for information on the activities and services of various importers, trade promotion agencies, consultancies, NGOs and certifiers.
In addition to the African Pavilion, there will be a day-long symposium on 23rd February to highlight the status of organics in Africa. Contact: africa2008@grolink.se  [+] 

SOIL ASSOCIATION CHANGES CONCEPT OF PLANNED AIR FREIGHT BAN
The Soil Association’s plan not to recognize any more organic products shipped to Great Britain by air freight has been modified. Producer groups from developing countries had opposed the plans of the British organic association on the grounds that it would put their economic future at risk. A new concept has now been presented that provides for extensive exceptions, transition periods and support for the development of local markets. There is shortly to be a three-month period for public consultation on the recommendations made by the Soil Association, with a final proposal from the Soil Association’s Standards Board by the middle of the year. [+] 

LOGISTICS CENTRE FOR ANDALUSIAN ORGANIC FOOD OFFICIALLY OPENED
A logistics centre for organic food from Andalusia was recently officially opened in Santa Fe in the province of Granada. The centre simplifies the storage and sale of organic products to the some 100 institutions that belong to the Andalusian state government’s programme for “social consumption”: nursery schools, primary schools, old people’s homes and hospitals. The institutions serve more than 10,000 people in the eight Andalusian provinces.
The new organic logistics centre cost 450,000 EUR and has an area of almost 1,000 m². Up to 135 t of storable products can be accommodated in six cold stores and another 36 t on racks.

RESEARCH PROVES IT: ORGANIC IS HEALTHIER  
The latest scientific studies show that organic foods have more nutritional value than conventional products. Organic milk reduces the risk of eczema among children and organic strawberry extracts inhibit cancer cells. In addition, organic-orientated food requires fewer calories for the same nutritional value. Nursing mothers who eat mainly organic food have more healthy fatty acids in their breast milk. A current summary of new findings has been compiled by Alberta Velimirov of FiBL Austria and Elfriede Berger of Bio Austria. [+]

STRONG ORGANIC GROWTH IN INDIA
A four-fold rise to over 2 million hectares from the present 528,000 hectares is targeted to take place in India by 2012, reports the Indian newspaper Business Standard. According to the Bangalore-based International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA), a government recognised not-for-profit organisation, organic farming is witnessing a growth of over 40 per cent year-on-year.
Manoj Kumar Menon, Executive Director ICCOA said: “The major reason for the growth in organic farming is increased awareness among consumers in the country. Till now organic food was mainly exported. But over the last couple of years, the domestic market has started growing. Many state governments have woken up to the importance of organic farming and have announced several incentives for farmers to go organic.” [+]

SECOND WHOLE FOODS MARKET ANNOUNCED FOR LONDON  
Whole Food boss John Mackey has announced the opening of a second British store in the second half of 2008, reports Lebensmittel Praxis international. The new location could be in the business quarter of Canary Wharf beside the Thames. Mackey spoke about the commitment in Great Britain being a very long-term investment, which would not pay off until much later. Rick Bonin, who is responsible for the Whole Foods operation in the UK said, “We could well use a few more customers at the beginning of the week”. Despite growing numbers of customers, some analysts remain sceptical. Particularly the occasional emptiness of the shop seems to be a disturbing factor. According to LP international, it is probably necessary to increase the advertising budget to attract more customers from outside the immediate trading area.

NEW INTERIM ARRANGEMENT FOR NITRITE PICKLING SALT IN ORGANIC FOODS
The revised white lists for additives and processing aids in Appendix VI of the EU Organic Regulation came into force on 1.12.2007, reports the German Organic Producers and Traders Association (BNN). The European Commission has now presented a draft which foresees the use of sodium nitrite and potassium nitrate until 31.12.2010 with limitations on applications and quantities. A new assessment of these additives is to be made by then. Moreover, additional processing aids are to be admitted for the production of organic gelatine until the end of 2010.

EVENTS
Organic Marketing Forum 2008, European Meeting on Organic Food in Warsaw. EkoConnect and its cooperation partners Ekoland Poland, Organic Retailers Association (ORA) and the Polish Agricultural Advisory Service CDR invite experts to the 3rd Organic Marketing Forum in Poland on 26th and 27th of May, 2008.

About 350 participants from 20 countries are expected to attend the key meeting of the organic food sector in Central and Eastern Europe. It
will bring together traders, processors, producers and other food experts from all parts of Europe. [+]

NEWS TICKER
[*] The stagnation of the Swiss organic market is over: the latest estimates indicate that sales of organic products should rise by 6 % to some 1.28 billion francs (775 million EUR) in 2007, reports Bioaktuell.

[*] The German food group Rewe expects sales of organic products to rise by over 20 % in 2007.

[*] Organic products were the clear winners in the test of cocoa powder drinks by the magazine Ökotest. All six products tested received top marks, which no single conventional product achieved. The organic products were not only free of additives, but stood out mainly for their lower sugar content.