Hitting the bull’s eye: BioFach/Vivaness assert their position as world trade fairs

Once again, the international rendezvous of the organic industry BioFach/Vivaness was characterized by a combination of joie de vivre, innovative drive and professionalism that attracted 44,000 visitors before the fair came to an end on Saturday. According to NürnbergMesse’s own statistics, 25,000 visitors came from Germany, and the number from abroad rose this year by 4 % to 42 %. The organizers have also reported that the vast majority of visitors (97 %) were very pleased by what they saw and experienced in the nine exhibition halls. The good economic prospects for the organic sector were reflected in the buoyant mood of the people taking part and made this organic fair duo an experience to remember. Over 2,500 exhibitors from 86 countries presented themselves in the Messezentrum in Nuremberg. We invite you to read our detailed reports over the coming days. (Picture: Pool of water reflects the new entrance hall in CNN Mitte)

If you sensed the atmosphere in the halls, heard the facts about the market in Germany and all over the world at the parallel conference or watched the exciting fashion show (picture) with models in snazzy outfits, then you’ll know what the industry is aiming for: organic consumption is being turned into mainstream in society, and the intention is to take it increasingly to the younger generation. The slogans and the way the stands were presented manifested mature professionalism. The double event in Nuremberg was a clear demonstration of the fact that the industry is ready and able to gain more market share and to keep on raising organic turnover. A survey at the fair revealed that the assessment of the organic economy by 80 % of the visitors to BioFach and Vivaness was very positive.

January 2011 provided an outstanding reason for coming to such a judgment. The dioxin scandal at the beginning of the year not only cleared the shelves of organic eggs but also led to 12 % more customers buying organics, according to an ad-hoc survey by Klaus Braun consultancy. In the retail trade, organic turnover was 20 % higher than the previous year. To what extent this trend will fade in the coming months depends not least on what the new customers think of the specialist trade and its products. The many innovations (picture) at BioFach and Vivaness will enrich what is already on offer and may well contribute to some of the customers staying with the specialist trade.

As a member of the management of NürnbergMesse, Claus Rättich was also delighted with the way the fair had gone: “Four days packed with passion for the industry and products, concepts for the future and politics – at this fair you couldn’t fail to notice the upbeat atmosphere that prevails in the global organic market.” “When you go into the exhibition halls, it hits you - you feel inspired,” said Harald Wurm from the management of the organic retail traders association BNN-Einzelhandelsverband on the final day of the fair. “No specialist retailer can ever afford to miss BioFach.” The assessment of other exhibitors and visitors in all the halls on Saturday was without exception positive. You could often hear people saying that they were more than usually impressed, particularly by the quality of the discussions with customers. Testimony to the importance of this platform for the industry was the visible presence of the world of politics: more than 100 respresentatives of the international political scene visited BioFach/Vivaness. Also this year, the first regional meeting of politicians responsible for agriculture was held at the fair. “Here the industry is helping to shape nutrition styles and the ecological future of our planet,” commented Rättich. (Picture: Ilse Aigner - Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection - during a tour of BioFach, seen here with the remote control for a mini-airship in her hand)

The rendezvous for the specialist trade (pictures) is used by 1,500 people in the business to talk about their experiences, to discuss issues and take part in events. Around 600 visitors had registered for the specialist trade club. Some criticised the distance between the venue for the specialist retailers and rooms where the events of the parallel conference were being held and the halls with predominantly German exhibitors. About 8,500 people attended 158 events at the BioFach Conference and the Vivaness Forum. More than 500 conference visitors discussed the core issue ‘feeding the world’. IFOAM president Markus Arbenz called the conference the heart of the fair. As they do every year, IFOAM announced figures for the global organic market: in 2009 it recorded a remarkable increase of approximately 5 % and there was growth in organically managed land area of 6 %. As Arbenz put it, eco-intensification at all levels is the strategy for the future.

The panel discussion that was held on the new media day – the day prior to the start of the fair - addressed the central theme of this year’s BioFach, namely ‘feeding the world’. The participants were all agreed that organic can indeed feed the world, and Maria Rodale, head of the American publishers Rodale Inc. and author of the book Organic Manifesto, declared that enough studies had been carried out that proved the point. In her speech during the opening ceremony on Wednesday, she advocated most strongly converting to an organic lifestyle: “Our planet will carry on without us. If we humans want to survive, we’ve got to move with the utmost urgency to an organic way of life.” (Picture: A new day-lit room in CNN Mitte for the meeting of the specialist retail trade)

Dr. Jószef Angyàn, Secretary of State at the Hungarian Ministry for Rural Development, made ambitious statements regarding support for organic agriculture. In his speech, that was interrupted on several occasions by applause, he explained that expanding organic cultivation was one of the most important aspects of agricultural policy during Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. Among other things, he said: “Europe bears the responsibility for developing a sustainable, environmentally friendly agriculture in tune with ecological conditions, for maintaining an authetic rural environment and for conserving its values and its diversity.” He also went into the problem of GMO and stressed that under the Hungarian presidency their aim was a tightening of the current licensing system. Hungary similarly wants to put in place a system that allows member states to choose whether they restrict or reject GM plants. (Picture: Saxophone combo, sponsored by the federal state Nordrhein-Westfalen, livens up the exhibition hall at the end of the day)

Ilse Aigner, the Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, sent only her Secretary of State Dr. Robert Kloos to attend the opening event in Nuremberg. However, in a statement to the news service dpa, she said she expected the organic boom to continue: “We can assume that turnover in this industry will continue to rise in the years ahead.” She called on the federal states to provide continuous financial assistance and promised the industry further support. Accompanied by her new Secretary of State Peter Bleser, Aigner visited BioFach on Friday. She was confronted by the German association for the organic food industry BÖLW (Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft) and the animal welfare organization PETA. With a play on words involving her name, a PETA activist dressed as a chicken protested about factory farming. BÖLW criticized both the reduction in subsidies for organic agriculture – reduced by 11 % over the year - and the creation of the support programme for organic agriculture that subsidises projects that flout its basic principles because they involve, for example, genetic engineering. As reported by Nordbayern.de, Aigner rejected this criticism and said that widening the scope of the programme was not to the detriment of the organic industry but to its advantage. (Picture: Crowds of visitors at the entrance to CNN Ost)

This year, the Nuremberg Messezentrum welcomed visitors from all over the world with its newly designed Mitte forecourt (picture above on right) that, with its gigantic slatted roof, conveys an aura of comopolitan extravagance. The entrance hall too has been completely rebuilt, with a bistro, rest areas featuring water and new facilities to greet visitors. In 2012, BioFach will be held from 15 – 18 February. After a gap of two years, there will again be a Country of the Year – the contract with India was signed during this year’s BioFach (picture with the managing director of NürnbergMesse, Bernd A. Diederichs).