Prague: organics in more than the specialist trade

Organic products have not only managed to find their way into the conventional trade, so that they are now sold in supermarkets and department stores, but are also found in a number of hotels, delicatessens and cafés. Although there are also around a dozen specialist wholefood shops in the Czech capital, a concept which inspires has so far been missing. An example would be an organic fresh food store supplemented by imported brands from western countries. Organic-Market.Info visited this city of Jugendstil architecture and discovered a number of new things going on in organic marketing aside from the classic but rather small-scale organic stores. You find an especially high concentration of all things organic in Vodiĉkova Street, that starts at the famous Wenceslas Square and runs to the New Town Hall.

(Picture: Foodies Market Sklizeno)
Mamacoffee (picture on left) offers a wide selection of fair trade and organic coffees and teas. “Cafés have sprung up all over Prague in recent years, including the coffee chains,” says Nadia Lichte (picture below), the representative abroad of BioFach and NürnbergMesse in Prague. In the meantime, Mamacoffee (founded in 2008) has moved on to become a little chain with six outlets in Prague. The imported coffee beans – fair trade, fair trade/organic and conventional – are roasted by the company itself and also sold on to other retailers. Mamacoffee has imported direct from Ethiopia from the outset, with the aim of supporting small producers. For this reason, since it was founded the company has worked together with Fairtrade International and has applied to be licensed.

Although few organic products, for example organic cane sugar, are used in the pastries, cakes, salads, tapas, mezze and soups, a large number of the coffee and tea varieties are produced organically. And they are hugely popular: in the afternoon, in the biggest of the coffee houses at 6 Vodiĉkova (picture on right) that can seat 60 people, you’re lucky to find a free table. In a cosy atmosphere with subdued lighting, customers can look out through the big windows (picture) and watch the comings and goings in the busy old town. In the morning too this trendy café has no shortage of customers.

The wholefood store belonging to Country Life has changed little over recent years. It is located at the fork Vodiĉkova Street/Jungmannova Street in Prague 1. On the classic wooden shelves are mainly non-perishable goods like cereals, nuts and juices. However, lots of customers come to take advantage of the vegetarian lunch buffet. During the day there’s a counter where you can serve yourself. The tables are on the second floor. Some time ago we wrote a report on the wholesale and retail company Country Life, that operates five shops in Prague and a shop on their own farm.
(Picture: At the end of October, Nadia Lichte organized a press conference for BioFach 2014 in Prague)

A farm shop (picture on right), also in Vodiĉkova Street, offers a fully professional ambience with fresh food counters full of tasty bakery goods, cakes, bread and other delicatessen lines. Unfortunately, none of the fresh food is organic, but the dry food range more than makes up for the deficit. Under the name Bio Linie, a manufacturing firm of the organic farmers’ association Probio, pulses, cereals, jams and dried fruit are on sale. Other Czech manufacturers are represented in this ca. 70 m² regional store too. (Picture on right: The word Farmshop on the window of the regional store)

Foodies Market Sklizeno offers an interesting fresh food/fine food concept. In the former chemist’s shop, with its impressive old, dark built-in furniture and a gallery, the whole range of Sonnentor teas is on display (picture below on left). Further back in the shop you find on the left the well stocked fresh food counters, with bakery goods, cheese, meat and sausage products. This roughly 200 m² shop is also in Vodickova Street, just a few metres from Mamacoffee and Farmshop.

Something like 20 % of the fine food range is organic. Green & Blacks (chocolate), Holle and Sunval (children’s food), Dennree (breakfast cereals), Mogli (biscuits, noodes for children) and Isola bio (rice, oats, soya drinks) are just some of the imported organic brands you find in this shop. The range of Czech organic brands is equally big: Bioláda offers a selection of organic jams, Amylon Czech bakery aids, and Bio Linie a range of cereals, pulses and dried fruit. The offer of Life Food includes a range of biscuits, crackers and chocolate. At Mamacoffee you can buy 500 g packs of ground organic coffee. Ekofarma is a source of organic yogurts and Bio-Harmonie supplies drinks, among other things. Babio sells a range of baby food; you see various biscuits and crackers under the label Biokvalita, a BioNebio brand. Organic beef and pork is sold in vacuum packs on the self-service counter and the chilled counter. There is a good range of 120 wines, of which around 10 % are organic.

Nine shops operate under the name Sklizeno. They are located in Prague, Brno and Olomouc, and two of them are franchise shops. Three of the shops are run in keeping with the concept of the flagship store in Prague (picture), and six are shops with regional Czech goods and hardly any imported products. The owner of the small chain is David Kukla. You come to the conclusion that the attractive delicatessen shops, that are aimed mainly at tourists and well-heeled locals, don’t seek to attract customers with organic but with regionality, quality and freshness of food. At the same time, many organic suppliers are reasonably well placed, and they benefit from this concept.

The famous Jugendstil Hotel Paris, that stands next to the well known Jugendstil Hall has a selection of organic products for breakfast: yogurt, butter and jams. These products have been regularly supplied for several years by a dairy processing farm. Even the hotel rooms, the corridors and the furniture are original Jugendstil. This unique hotel is definitely to be recommended!

At the end of October 2013, a training and networking project in the Olomouc region, 200 km south-east of Prague, came to an end. Taking part in the project, that ran from February 2012, were 20 farmers and over 50 chefs, reports the organiser Tom Václavík of Slow Food in Brno. The aim was to get the regional marketing of organic products from the field to the catering kitchen up and running, in order to promote sustainable tourism in the region. In practical seminars, supplemented by e-learning, the participants engaged with organic farming, recipes and the requirements of marketing. All the organic farmers and restaurants plus contact data can be found on an interactive map. The project was supported by the Czech Ministry of Education and the European Social Fund. (Picture: Breakfast with organic ingredients in Hotel Paris)

Bio-Smichov is one of the more recent wholefood shops in Prague. This is the name of the shop (picture on right) belonging to the Czech importer BioNebio in the Smichov district of the capital.The shop, with about 120 m², is sited in a residential area to the west of downtown Prague and was opened in 2010. In a separate area, there are four tables for you to sit and have a coffee and something to eat. In the foreground, you see the well known brands from the west, the main ones being Rapunzel, Beutelsbacher, Provamel, Zwergenwiese, Dennree, Logona and Ecover. Goods are supplied by, among others, the Austrian wholesaler Biogast, and BioNebio is also an importer of goods.

Rather on the margins, Czech brands are presented: Life Food, Biolinie and smaller producers of jams, wine and pastries. Looking from the entrance, right at the back on the left is a chilled cabinet, with limp vegetables. Not exactly a focal point in the shop. Opposite are chilled shelves with dairy products and fresh milk. At all times on the look-out for theft, an elderly man saunters inconspicuously through the shop to keep an eye on customers. Although these customer-watchers are not unusual in other shops in the Czech Republic, in a small shop they spoil your shopping experience much more than in a big one.

Tip:

www.mamacoffee.cz

www.sklizeno.cz

www.biosmichov.cz