“The wing beat of BioFach will lead to a hurricane of eco-development”

The organic industry contemplated the future with self-assurance and confidence, but not without also considering the burning issues of the present, stating solutions and formulating demands to be made of politicians. Looking back to the early days of BioFach was as much a part of the 20th anniversary as honouring the organic pioneers and expressing the fervent hope for continuing dynamic progress. So a BioFach retrospective, where we heard politicians, pioneers and exhibitors expressing their views, plus many impressions from the halls. (Picture: The anniversary guests of the organic industry with 20 years and more experience were invited onto the stage)
During the opening ceremony IFOAM President Katherine DiMatteo asked what the role of the organic movement was in the face of global challenges like climate change and the economic crisis. She expressed her conviction that precisely in times like these the industry was required to project itself in all its strength and creativity in order to lend its weight to the urgent demand for more sustainability in the economy. The Nuremberg Mayor Ulrich Maly made an impassioned plea for more organics in our society and he outlined concrete measures to achieve his objective: the day before BioFach began the city council had passed the resolution that Nuremberg should become a GM-free zone. At the same time, he appealed to the Minister of Agriculture Ilse Aigner (picture) to ensure that GM technology would not be countenanced in the whole of Germany. Maly announced further measures to support the ecological conversion of society: the proportion of organic products in the catering for council-run kindergartens was being raised to 50 % and at public events to 25%. Nuremberg is issuing a sustainability report to document developments. Mayor Maly declared that industry and the banking world, that concentrated on profit maximisation and ignored sustainability, had a great deal to learn from the organic industry. To enthusiastic applause, he concluded: “Sustainability applies to much more than ecology – it is a social and economic issue as well. That’s something we’ve got to work on.”

The Minister of Agriculture Ilse Aigner did not follow in the footsteps of her predecessor Horst Seehofer, who was conspicuous through his absence at previous BioFachs. However, she showed far less commitment to organic than ex-minister Renate Künast who was applauded with particular enthusiasm by the audience. At a meeting with the press before BioFach’s opening event, Aigner reiterated her statement in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung when she said that green gene technology had not to date been of any recognisable benefit to people in Germany. She said a check would be carried out to establish whether Monsanto was complying with the monitoring conditions for its GM maize MON 810. If this was not the case, the authorisation for MON 810 would be revoked. She also announced the continuation until 2015 of the federal programme Organic Agriculture. She described BioFach as a trend barometer and signpost. Following the opening ceremony, the president of Bioland, Thomas Dosch, handed her a petition for a GM-free Europe (picture on right).

After the welcome by the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel, and the Danish Minister of Agriculture, Eva Kjer Hansen, the pioneers of the organic industry were honoured, and the founders of BioFach addressed the audience. Hagen Sunder (on the right in the picture) said: “It was good that we gave up the child for adoption in time, because it would not otherwise have been able to grow in the way it has.” His message to the industry for the coming years was: “Stay true to the cause, and don’t get caught up in compromise. Nature is always right.” His colleague Hubert Rottner (second from right) expressed his demand: “The struggle for the right to self-determination in respect of healthy food must be carried on with passion.” The view of the third founder, Jürgen Ries (on the left in the picture), was expressed philosophically: “The wing beat of BioFach will lead to a hurricane of eco-development”.

The same as last year, the awards for best sellers of the year were presented at the lunch for the specialist press. The most successful new products were established on the basis of evaluations by BioVista in 150 high-turnover stores. The annual turnover of these stores accounts for 15 % of the turnover of the organic industry in Germany. The BioFach best sellers were chosen in the categories fresh foods and other foods. As an example of fresh food, Söbbeke rice milk pudding (“Milchreis natur”) was in the lead with a distribution level of 77 % (maximum in the period covered by BioFach). As an example of other foods, Susanne Schöning from the company Zwergenwiese won the prize with the strawberry and rhubarb spread (“Erdbeere-Rhababer FruchtGarten”). The judges’ prize went to “Wilde Hilde”, a salad and herb mix by Herbaria. The regeneration serum by Dr. Hauschka (64 %) was the Vivaness best face-care seller of the year. The prize for body-care was won by Logona’s sandalwood-orange shower bath (Wintertraum Sandelholz-Orange – 41 %). The Vivaness judges’ prize also went to Logona for the aquabio daycream Thalasso System. The total of new products in the specialist trade last year was 430. (Picture: from the left Heinz-Jürgen Weiland, Logocos: Michael Radau, SuperBioMarkt; Bettina Bockhorst, Logocos)

In his speech congratulating the winners, Michael Radau (managing director of SuperBioMarkt) said that it was interesting that three out of six prizes had gone to products in the higher priced segment. “Every year, the bar in product development is being raised – our customers appreciate this commitment.” Then he came out with a ‘declaration of love’ to the organic industry and enumerated the merits and qualities of people in the organic movement: again and again the industry had shown itself to be capable of coping with economic crisis and had always developed innovative products. Sometimes they had been resistant to advice, but they had learned from their mistakes and moved on. “For at least a generation now, we have provided examples of active climate protection by operating according to ecological principles – even in times of crisis we manage to achieve positive turnover, and, as we were then, we are still now inspired by the idea of an ecological economy.”

The textile area has proved to be a real success. Straightaway, about 50 exhibitors came to Nuremberg and felt at home in the defined area designed specifically by the fair organisers. “The location is first-class,” commented Holger Gössel, sales manager at Cocon Fritzsch. He said the area was light and friendly, and he thought the link to the cosmetics hall was a good idea. He was satisfied with the interest they had generated. On the negative side, he mentioned the less than optimal fittings: the rails were too low for some of the clothes. Linda Eichhorn, managing director of The Fashion rEvolution (picture below right) was very impressed by the infrastructure. Something else she liked was the possibility of displaying items in several different places at the same time, for example on the Organic + Fair stand and on the stand devoted to new products. The company, that has its headquarters in Kemmern in Bavaria, manufactures home textiles and merchandising products for other companies (advertising articles with printing). The organic cotton comes from India. Jürgen Schweikardt, a member of the management of Schweikardt Moden, displayed the wonderful knitwear of the Dunque brand (picture below left), and he too praised the textile area: “If this concept is retained, we’ll be here again.” He was particularly surprised by the high level of media interest. “BioFach is for us an image event.”



The other new special exhibition area Organic + Fair (picture below) in Hall 3 was also well received, even though this hall is a little way from the main stream of visitors. One of the crowd-pullers was the hall with the internet café (picture on right), and since last year there is a new entrance (Messe Süd) to this hall. 34 exhibitors were located in the Organic + Fair area. They included Fair Trade Labelling Organisations International FLO, and Forum Fairer Handel. Reykia Fick from FLO was pleased with her many productive conversations and the new potential customers, manufacturers and wholesalers who had shown an interest in fair trade. FLO represents 817 member organisations that trade the products of 1.6 million farmers. They estimate the number of people worldwide who profit from fair trade to be 7.5 million (including family members). Birgit Schößwender from Forum Fair Trade was also satisfied with the level of interest but pointed out that a special show needed clearer criteria on the part of BioFach to control participation. As she explained: “Anyone wanting to emphasise ‘fair’ must also be required to say what he understands by ‘fair’. Anything less than this would simply water down the concept. She said that a general claim to be of social benefit was insufficient. The network Forum Fair Trade brings together 19 member organisations such as TransFair, GEPA, dwp, EL PUENTE, BanaFair, the umbrella association Weltladen and the development organisation Brot für die Welt. The problem is that any company that described itself as fair and organic was able to exhibit at the BioFach special show. (Picture: Products were displayed on two semi-circular counters)

The halls occupied predominantly by foreign exhibitors did not attract crowds but rather a steady stream of visitors. It is mainly a question of customer care and match-making. Compared with last year, the raw materials market has calmed down and prices have stabilised, creating a good basis for trade. But it was not only importers and exporters who made this their platform – tasty specialities tempted visitors from the retail trade to sample the delights of Italy, Spain and Denmark. The variety of displays, the colour and exotic goods from overseas made you want to go and have a look and absorb impressions from distant countries like Mexico, Brazil, Africa, China, India, Thailand and many more. The whole organic world was represented by 130 countries.
(Pictures: Big shared stand of Mexico, Danish manufacturers, Thailand with specialities and catering)



You could hear expressions of satisfaction in the cosmetics hall as well - from A for Alva, that among other things introduced a complete new deco-line, to S for Styx from Austria. Styx’s big stand no longer fitted into Hall 7A and, together with others, had to be moved to Hall 7. Christa Einhaus from Alva was pleased with the high level of interest in their products. Most of the other stands in Hall 7A attracted the same kind of interest. The lavish displays of Börlind/Tautropfen, Biogarten, Dr. Hauschka, Lavera, Logona, Lakshmi, Primavera and Speick were at times inundated by so many visitors that you had difficulty in finding a way through. This was no surprise, because about half of the approximately 46,000 visitors came to Vivaness, which means an average of 5,750 people each day. Running alongside the exhibition was a comprehensive programme of talks in the Vivaness Forum.
(Pictures: Display by Lakshmi, Stand of Florascent fragrances, Natural cosmetics from Latvia)











Right up to the end of BioFach on Sunday afternoon people thronged to Halls 6 – 9, that were occupied predominantly by German wholefood manufacturers. About 30 firms in the food sector belonged to the pioneers of BioFach. Even after 20 – 30 years, the potential for innovation is undiminished. Once again, they had all brought tasty new items and the atmosphere was amazing (read our article next week on new food products). No mention of crisis. Bohlsener Mühle registered even more interest than last year, as their delicious new products tempted people to enjoy a sample. After an absence of several years, the importer and wholesaler Naturkost Weber from Munich again occupied a stand at BioFach, and the company was delighted with the high level of interest (picture below in middle). The Austrian chocolate manufacturer Zotter had one of the most creative stands - with their chocolate-shop-theatre and little cable railway delivering pieces of chocolate to the assembled crowd. The visitors showed their huge appreciation of the company’s inventiveness. (Picture below on right)
(Picture on left: Jésus Bastante from Lifefood Taifun frying for the visitors)

Picture: Shared stand of Die Regionalen, Voelkel and Demeter-Marktplatz



The wine hall – it could hardly not be the case – was the meeting point for wine traders and wine lovers. On Saturday morning, Peter Riegel, the head of the company that bears his name, was very pleased with the response over the last few days. Riegel Weinimport should indeed be very happy with 20 % more contacts at the fair and the first-class results in terms of awards. The situation was summed up by sales manager Henry Mühlbauer: “The demand for high-quality organic wines is undiminished despite the critical state of the economy.” Coming to BioFach proved to be a very profitable experience for the 28-strong Riegel team and the 37 wine growers, who displayed 320 organic wines from all over the world. Laura Burkhardt from Riegel’s marketing department gave a whole list of interesting new wines and projects that made a visit to Germany’s biggest organic wine merchant very worthwhile. (Picture: The new Riesling sparkling wine “Engel” could well be a best seller)

With the spotlight on Denmark as the country of the year, the Danes too were completely satisfied. A very professional impression was created by the stand of Organic Denmark in the entrance area in Hall 1 and in the corridors between the halls by their rolling banners and texts for the party on Saturday evening, to which over 1,000 exhibitors, journalists and VIPs came. Lars Frederiksen, managing director of the praline producer Woodshade, was not alone in praising the number of contacts made and the high quality of the people expressing an interest. “It was fantastic. We have achieved our aims in all respects. The manufacturers are thrilled. They dreamed what it could be like, and that’s precisely what they found here – high visitor quality and targeted visits to stands,” commented Klaus Bentzen, export manager at the industry association Organic Denmark.