BioFach America 2008: Green lifestyle capturing the US market

BioFach America celebrates its premiere in the new location in Boston from 16-18 October 2008. The seventh edition of the US daughter of BioFach, the world’s leading exhibition in Nürnberg, takes place in the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The increased demand for display space had made it necessary to move from the previous venue in Baltimore. The prize-winning “Convention Center of the Year” provides 3,700 square metres for the manufacturers of certified organic food, natural personal care and natural textiles, almost 60 % more space than at the last BioFach America.

Picture: BioFach America 2007

The trend to healthy food from organic production and environment-friendly products is also continuing in the USA. Stefan Hauke, corporate consultant based in Milwaukee, USA, and organic market expert, describes this development as “the greening of America”. 23 % of the population are already attributed to the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability, abbreviated to LOHAS. More and more customers attach importance to sustainable consumption. This not only applies to food, but to cosmetics, body care and clothing as well. The top product selection criterion for almost 40 % of American consumers is organic quality. 20 % of the customers sustainability is a key criterion in deciding to buy and also in the choice of their shop, according to the result of IRI Sustainability Research, a representative survey in December 2007.

The issue of sustainable consumption continues to boost organic sales in the USA. The growing demand for organic products is reflected by the growth of sales in the industry. The Organic Trade Association, OTA, assumes a sales volume of some 20 billion US dollars and more than 20 % growth in the North American organic market in 2007. The organic share of the total food market is 3 %. Experts estimate that organic sales could top 30 billion US dollars in 2009.

More than 300 million inhabitants with an average annual income of some 46,000 dollars and very keen to consume distinguish the United States as the world’s biggest economic power and largest sales market for imported goods. The US market for organic food is growing by about 3.5 billion US dollars a year. American customers are not so sensitive to prices, which promotes the dynamic development of sales. “A mean-is-cool mentality is unknown,” says Hauke. The high quality of organic products is not only appreciated by committed environmentalists and high-earning LOHAS members, but by an increasing number of buyer groups.

The growing availability of organic products in all trading forms gives consumers the possibility of obtaining suitable food everywhere. The distribution density has heavily increased in the past years. More and more large food chains like Walmart, Target, Safeway or Supervalu have entered the market. In view of the growing popularity of organic products, market observers still see considerable potential. Although organic ranges are meanwhile obtainable everywhere, the depth of the range still promises lots of scope for expansion. The same also applies to the classic organic shops. The range offered by natural product stores only partly consists of organic food. Food supplements and food not certified as organic make up a large share of the lines. There are meanwhile some 9,000 natural product stores throughout the country. These cooperatives, owner-managed single shops and chains have achieved just under half the total US organic sales of 17.7 billion US dollars, as reported by the magazine Natural Food Merchandiser in 2006. Their total sales amounted to about 28 billion US dollars. The specialist trade landscape is dominated by nationwide chains like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe´s.

BioFach America offers the perfect platform for presenting companies and their products to qualified professionals in the huge, dynamically developing American market. For years, the exhibition combined with the Natural Products Expo East has attracted over 20,000 visitors, who source information, get to know market features and exchange views with American and international colleagues. Exhibitors from Argentina, Brazil, China, India, France and Italy are there in Boston in 2008.

Other BioFach global events:

BioFach China, Shanghai: 29-31 May 2008
BioFach Japan, Tokyo: 24-26 September 2008
BioFach América Latina/Expo Sustentat, São Paulo: 23-25 October 2008
BioFach and Vivaness, Nürnberg: 19-22 February 2009