BioFach 2011 accelerating the pace of innovation

The countdown is underway. Wednesday 16 February marks the start of the World Trade Fair duo BioFach and Vivaness 2011. The organizers of NürnbergMesse have come up with a lot of imaginative ideas to satisfy the demanding expectations of the 2,500 exhibitors and the anticipated 43,000 visitors. At the exhibition centre in Nuremberg everything revolves round organic: in the two congress centres CCN Mitte and Ost, at more than 140 events, at special shows and, of course, in the ten exhibition halls. BioFach and Vivaness are inviting the international organic community to exchange ideas, take joint action and to party together.
The focus of this year’s BioFach/Vivaness is feeding the world. The World Trade Fair invites you to discuss the proposition that “organic can feed the world” and to devise solutions and joint strategies for an organic future. How can food security for a growing world population be secured with organic agriculture and organic food? How should eating habits be changed, and what price policy do we need? These are the core questions to be debated during the Nuremberg trade fair. The association for organic food production in Germany, BÖLW, the sponsor of BioFach, and IFOAM, the traditional patron of this industry event, have long been preoccupied with this issue and have come to the conclusion that it is indeed possible. Confirmation that organic can feed the world is also forthcoming from the World Agriculture Report and elsewhere.

As a concept, sustainability is on everybody’s lips, but it has to be seen in terms of real issues. So the opening ceremony and several events will focus on the following topics: “Feeding the world in the north-south dialogue” and the panel discussion “Sustainable food: food for the future”, in which four experts from the Technical University of Munich will express their views – Karl von Koerber, Andreas Beier, Eveline Dasch and Lukas Hindinger. Under the chairmanship of Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein (from BÖLW), the topic “Eco + Fair – a contribution to food security” will be discussed by Ulrich Hoffmann (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development – UNCTAD), Sunil Joseph (PDS Organic Spices, India), Agnes Bergmeister, Naturland, Anna Hirt (World Shops umbrella organization) and Marita Wiggenthale (Oxfam Germany).

This year is the premiere of the venue for the organic retail trade. This new platform for the German organic retail trade in the Congress Centre Mitte is divided into three sections: the Organic Trade Forum where every day lectures will be held, and the Organic Trade Café and the Organic Trade Club that are places where you can enjoy quiet, relaxation and conversation. For the Club, it’s necessary to have a special invitation and to register in advance at www.biofach.de/fachhandelstreff. The programme in the forum for organic retailers ranges from lectures on economic topics and industry data (for example, theprofitability of the organic retail trade and organic product ranges), store concepts and further training to issues of sustainability, and it includes panel discussions on, for example, positioning the organic retail trade.

Other forums are the Fair & Ethical Trade Forum, the Gastro Forum, the Textile Forum and, of course, the Vivaness Forum. The Vivaness Forum is held in the Kiev Room in CCN Ost, Level 2. The highlights will be an overview of the development of the German market presented by Elfriede Dambacher and guests and an overview of the international natural cosmetics markets given by Amarjit Sahota (from Organic Monitor) in English. A total of 16 lectures and discussions is being offered at the Vivaness Forum. You can access the Congress Programme in the online Congress Planner.

Every year Wine Hall 4A is the place where wine lovers and wine experts congregate (Vinothek 4A, 350). The winners of the International Organic Wine Prize MUNDUSvini BioFach have already been chosen, and the award ceremony will take place on the first day of BioFach at 11.00 in Hall 4A (stand 640). In Hall 4A you’ll also find the Olive Oil Bar (4A.102). Here, visitors can get information, taste the oils and evaluate them. The best oils are displayed on monitors in a live-ranking and then awarded the BioFach Olive Oil Prize.

In the special areas at BioFach/Vivaness, visitors can quickly get an overview of innovations and trends. The new special show in the passage linking CCN Ost to Vivaness Hall 7A is called Breeze. Exhibitors with innovative products and concepts, trendy niche brands and young labels have the opportunity here to introduce themselves to the specialist visitors attending the fair. You’ll also see new products in the natural cosmetics segment on display. In the special exhibition area Organic + Fair (5.200), about 50 exhibitors from 14 countries will present around 100 products that are both certified organic and produced in compliance with fairness principles. Other special areas are given over to young innovative companies (9), and every day in the Textile Area (8) eco fashion will be demonstrated by models on the catwalk.

Another innovation is the Best New Product Award. The stand for new products (9.500) will as usual be a focal point for visitors. Over an area of 500 m², visitors can inspect new products and, introduced this year, they can evaluate them too. Using a voting card that they get with their admission tickets, visitors can choose their product for the BioFach 2011 Best New Product Award in the categories basic foods, fine foods and spices, convenience, milk and dairy products, bakery goods and confectionery, beverages, and natural products. On Saturday, the last day of Biofach 2011, there will be an official visit to the prize winners to congratulate them. The venue for this is the innovations stand at 10.45.

Education – Work – Prospects is the title of another new special area in Hall 9 where exhibitors from the sectors training, further training and employment services are located with the aim of networking people. Among other things, an apprenticeship network for the wholefood trade will be introduced. The exhibitors in this special area include: the training for employment organization FORUM Berufsbildung Berlin, the foundation for ecology and farming SÖL, the University of Hohenheim (specializing in agriculture) and the University Weihenstephan Triesdorf, with the personnel and management consultancy Kugler & Rosenberger as the coordinating partner. Throughout the year, people looking for jobs or applications for job offers can be entered on the internet job listings of BioFach/Vivaness.

BioFach/Vivaness has plenty to offer if you want to celebrate or relax. On Wednesday the organic manufacturers’ and trade organization BNN Herstellung und Handel invites you to their traditional get-together (only if you have registered); on Thursday the hall parties and the Vivaness party provide a favourite opportunity to meet people and have fun. Friday night is reserved for the BioFach party in CCN West.

If you have still not got a plan of which exhibitors and events you would like to visit, you’ll find the guidance useful that is available at http://www.ask.biofach.de/