BioFach: 20 years and a wealth of new ideas

BioFach is celebrating its birthday. The twentieth anniversary of the world trade fair for wholefoods and natural products is being celebrated in a big way: people will look back and take delight in the splendid development of the industry and the trade fair itself. Stand still; rest on your laurels? Not a bit of it! BioFach has a myriad of new ideas that will inspire exhibitors and visitors and ignite the industry.
(Picture: the African Pavilion at BioFach 2008)
New record: for the first time, the specialist fair duo – BioFach and Vivaness – will occupy 12 exhibition halls. Vivaness is outgrowing the daylight Hall 7A and laying claim to a part of Hall 7. Here there is a seamless transition to the new area for natural textiles, with around 40 exhibitors and the textile-oasis. The natural textiles theme is complemented by a forum in the congress programme. The rest of Hall 7 and Halls 6 and 8 - 10 are reserved mainly for German manufacturers and traders, and for growers’associations. The international exhibitors can be found in Halls 1-5, with Hall 4A allocated to the roughly 380 wine growers and members of the wine trade. Hall 3 has been given over by BioFach to the special show Organic + Fair. This is the territory of products and projects that portray the various aspects of Fair Trade. A corresponding Fair & Ethical Trade Forum is included in the congress programme.

In the case of Halls 6 – 10, that are occupied in the main by German exhibitors, you see certain points of emphasis. Thus in Hall 6 you find the shared stands of a number of Federal States of Germany, the Naturland Association with its partner firms and, among others, drinks firms (e.g. Bionade, Biotta, Neumarkter), meat and sausage producers (KFF, Salomon, Vion, Rack & Rüther), and also the Fair Trade company Gepa. Hall 7 is dominated by the textile area and the new Demeter-Marketplace, the space occupied by Dennree and the wholesaler group “Die Regionalen” and by the stands of big German wholefood companies (Allos, Bohlsener Mühle, Davert, Ulrich Walter, Söbbeke, Rosengarten, etc.).

The Bioland Association and its partners (around 50 in total) can be found, as last year, in Hall 8. Here too you can see the big stands of Biozentrale and Natudis from Holland. The exhibitions of BMELV, various Federal States of Germany and of CMA, together with a special area for gastronomy and catering, are accommodated in Hall 9. The stand shared by CMA and ZMP (9.237) is the focal point for visitors. Suppliers of shop technology, packaging materials, marketing requirements and agricultural inputs are concentrated in Hall 10. Vivaness innovations: what is new in the world of natural cosmetics can be seen in Hall 7A, Stand 417.

Halls 1 – 5 are occupied predominantly by foreign exhibitors. Hall 1 is dominated by the imposing presence of the Danish Pavilion. In terms of consumption of organic food, this country of the year is way out in front in Europe. The annual average spend on organics is 80 € which puts it in first place among members of the EU. A long way below Denmark come Austria with 64 € and Germany with 56 €.
Hall 1 also accommodates French, Italian, Belgian and Austrian suppliers and the IFOAM-Café. In Hall 2 you can visit the national pavilions of the USA, Brazil and other South American and Central American states, as well as individual companies from, for example, Holland (Tradin, Do-it, Daebon). Together with the stands of some Scandinavian countries and certification organisations, what are sure to attract masses of visitors in Hall 3 are the innovations stand and the centrally placed special area Organic + Fair. In
Hall 4 the organisers have brought together most of the Italian exhibitors, the stands of Turkey and Slovakia, and the pavilions of India and African countries. Big displays by Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and the Netherlands are located in Hall 5. BioFach innovations: an overview of all new products is found in Hall 3, Stand 320.

The BioFach congress is huge, comprising around 160 events. Talks and panel discussions will take place in parallel in 13 rooms in CCN Ost. New this year are forums on natural textiles and fairness. Natural cosmetics, gastronomy and wine are traditional topics. For the first time, a day is being devoted to the specialist trade.

Textiles Forum: in room Kopenhagen (CCN Ost, level 2) there will be seven events on Friday and Saturday dealing with production and processing, market development and standards, and certification.

Fair & Ethical Trade Forum: this new forum will be held on Thursday and Friday in room Seoul (CCN Ost, level 3) and there will be an interesting combination of talks and discussions about certification issues, communication, concepts in trade, success stories and trends. Except for one panel discussion, sessions are in English with translation.

Gastro Forum: visitors to room Oslo (CCN Ost, E 2) on Thursday and Friday can choose from 12 events to find out the latest on the market for the catering trade. Along with other things on Thursday, a nationwide market study will be introduced. Among other topics being dealt with are training for chefs, school catering, regionality, the impact of new EU legislation and certification.

Wine Forum: talks and two panel discussions on wine will be held in the Wine Hall 4A. Topics to be addressed in addition to information about trends and market developments are plant protection, the EU wine regulation and marketing issues. This forum will be held from Thursday to Saturday.

Vivaness Forum: 13 seminars, talks and discussion on natural cosmetics will similarly occupy three days in room Kiew (CCN Ost, E 2). On Thursday the emphasis will be on the development of markets in Germany, worldwide, in North America, Brazil and in Asia. The panel discussion in the afternoon will revolve round the questions of standards and harmonisation. Examples of other exciting topics to be dealt with at various events are natural cosmetics in the specialist trade, Green and Natural Spa, Fair Trade and market research.

The following addresses will make it easier for you to plan:
http://www.biofach.de/en/congressinfo/
http://www.biofach.de/en/congressinfo/congressplanner/

Up-to-date product information from companies under:
http://ask-biofach.de/?locale=en_GB
http://ask-vivaness.de/?locale=en_GB


Eating, Drinking, Relaxing, Celebrating
IFOAM-Café (1.340)
Café Lounge Organic + Fair (3.120)
International Restaurant (3.520)
Internet Café (3.320)
Wine Restaurant (4A.120)
Ristoro Italia (4.110)
BÖLW-Café (6.200)
Beer village - Bierdorf (9.100)
Lounge Textile Area (7A.315)
Vivaness-Café (7A.315)
Vivaness- Relaxation Garden (7.761)
Danish Evening BioFach/Vivaness Party CCN West Foyer Hall 12
Quiet room and prayer room (Service 6/7, 1.OG)
Kindergarden Servicecenter Mitte