Organic industry at the Health and Natural Ingredients Trade Fair

15 organic manufacturers presented themselves at the international trade fair Health Ingredients/ Natural Ingredients that was held in Frankfurt from 13 – 15. 11.12. For 15 years there has been an Organic Pavilion at this fair that is held in various European cities every two years and alternates with the Food Ingredients fair. Nutrition and Wellness Solutions (NuW) was a new category in the portfolio of the British organizer of the fair UBM Live.

Alexandra Thöring (picture on left), who as an agent looks after the Organic Pavilion and has organized it on behalf of the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre from the outset, was very pleased with the success of the event in 2012 : “The feedback from the exhibitors is very good. The firms made promising contacts and had positive discussions. That’s a great conclusion to the work I do for the Organic Pavilion.” Thöring, who runs the international trade agency for organic products Artebio in Lüneburg, has built up the organic section on behalf of the organizers of the fair. She sees her task as being an intermediary between organic manufacturers, the industry and the mass market. She says that the days when the food industry kept its distance from the organic industry are in any case a thing of the past. “The organic market ought to grow much more quickly. My target is 100 % organic,” says Thöring. With her job done at this year’s fair, she handed back the organization of the organic section to the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre because she wants to devote herself much more to her own firm. At the Food Ingredients fair, that is much bigger than Health/ Natural Ingredients, the Organic Pavilion accommodates between 30 and 45 exhibitors.
 

Sebastian Huber (picture on right), the managing director of Primavera Naturkorn GmbH in Mühldorf, was also full of praise for the fair. Primavera exhibited at Health/ Natural Ingredients for the first time and shared a stand with the French firm Brochenin, that sells oils, fats and seeds. As Huber explained, the interest of the visitors exceeded his expectations by far. In particular, this supplier of many organic manufacturers was able to make new and interesting contacts. His company specializes in baby food and gluten-free flour and flakes.
                                                    
Potato starch is the main product of the cooperating firms Aloja Starkelsen in Latvia and  Finnamyl Ltd in Finland. Just a few manufacturers in Europe share the market for the special product organic cold water swelling potato starch. They said the Health / Natural Ingredients fair is the right platform for meeting old and new customers. Export manager Erkki Pöytaniemi (picture on left) said their attendance in Frankfurt was well worthwhile: "We’re very pleased with the fair - the number and quality of contacts was much better then expected." These firms will also be represented again at BioFach.
 

A trade fair for raw materials for the food industry would not be complete if Tradin, the Dutch specialist for organic raw materials, did not attend. After a comprehensive relaunch, Tradin presented itself with a new logo (picture), new projects and news from the raw materials markets around the world. On the same stand was the Ethiopian sesame project Selet Hulling. The Dutch company, that belongs to the Canadian Sunopta Group, focuses on its own cropping and processing projects worldwide in order to meet its high quality standard. Cocoa processing is currently being established in Holland (a report will follow soon).
 
At Health/Natural Ingredients Europe, 441 Firms from over 80 countries exhibited and the public was just as international. Around 7,200 professionals in the food and food supplements industry across the world attended this specialist fair in Frankfurt. A new addition to the portfolio was Nutrition & Wellness Solutions (NuW) that delivers solutions for the steadily growing market for wellness and special nutrition. According to the trade fair itself, at NuW you could see the whole value chain – from research and development, ingredients, recipes and processing to marketing and packaging. The organizers maintain that NuW fills a gap in the market beyond functional food and health food. It will also serve as a platform for bringing together investors and innovative medium size companies. As well as the fair itself, visitors could attend a range of lectures and seminars.
   
The next Food Ingredients and Natural Ingredients Europe will be held from 19 - 21.11. 2013 in Frankfurt / Germany.

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