BioFach América Latina and Expo Sustentat:

A 30% increase in space compared to 2006 – BioFach América Latina and the parallel event Expo Sustentat are becoming increasingly significant. Both the exhibitor as well as trade visitor figures had almost doubled in 2006 compared to the previous year. 6,200 trade visitors (2005: 3,200) informed themselves about products and projects presented at the trade fair duo by the total of around 300 exhibitors (2005: 156).

Picture: BioFach América Latina 2006

The fifth BioFach América Latina and the third Expo Sustentat will be held from 16. – 18. October 2007 at the Transamerica Expo Center in São Paulo. The organizers of both trade fairs, Nürnberg Global Fairs, its Brazilian partner, Planeta Orgânico, and Organic Services, are this year once again expecting around 300 exhibitors. A special highlight of the comprehensive congress programme will be the BioTrade Forum. This event is being held in cooperation with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The upward trend in demand for organic products on the domestic Brazilian market is continuing. This is confirmed by a current market research study conducted by Planeta Orgânico in cooperation with the company specialized in organic products, Organic Life. The analysis puts the sales volume of organic products on the Brazilian foodstuffs market for 2007 at 700 million US Dollars (around 510 million €). This forecast is supported by the statements from leading retail chains such as Carrefour, Pão de Açúcar and Walmart. The French foodstuffs group Carrefour, which was delighted to record high increases in recent years, is expecting a rise of 50 % for 2007. Its range of organic products covers approximately 250 articles.

The national retailer Pão de Açúcar is registering annual growth of 15 % and in order to meet the growing demand on the domestic market, the supermarket’ chain is encouraging its domestic suppliers to switch over to organic cultivation programmes. Approximately 400 organic products are listed at Pão de Açúcar, of these 250 alone in the fruit and vegetable range. The US Company Walmart is planning to quadruple its range of organic products from the current total of 150 to 600 articles. In a campaign aimed at increasing and promoting sales, an “Organic Saturday” has been introduced. In addition, Walmart is banking on attractive price offers. Organic foodstuffs prices have on average come down by 30 % in recent years in Brazil. However, they are currently still approximately 30 % higher than conventional products. The authors of the market analysis confirm that the Brazilian organic products trade is adopting a clearly more professional approach in the marketing of its products. The supermarkets in particular are playing an outstanding role in this connection.
The conclusion of the study: the challenge facing the sector is to quickly adapt to the consumer’s requirements and to meet the increasing demand for organic products coupled with acceptable prices.

The positive economic trend in the organic products sector is clearly reflected in the growing interest of exhibitors at BioFach América Latina and Expo Sustentat: the exhibition space at São Paulo’s Transamerica Expo Center has grown by almost one third compared to the previous year and is already nearly fully booked two months before the start of the fair. With their products, export-interested European and international companies can help to close the product range gaps in the Brazilian and Latin American trade. Seven companies are presenting themselves to trade visitors on the German joint stand. They include for example the certification institute BCS Öko Garantie, the wholesale supplier for fruit and vegetables, Lehmann Natur, and the natural cosmetics company Lakshmi. The German Pavilion is being sponsored and promoted by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV).
 
With the Expo Sustentat fair, Planeta Orgânico, Nürnberg Global Fairs and Organic Services, in cooperation with the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG), already launched a qualified platform for sustainability projects in 2005. “Developing the sustainable products fair held parallel to BioFach was and is for us an ambitious project”, comments Herta Krausmann, Executive Director Nürnberg Global Fairs. “But the time is right for it. The promotion and support provided by DEG is a key success factor.”

Now, after three years of development work and clear growth in the trade fair, the assessment is clear: “It has been worthwhile, because Expo Sustentat can contribute to developing Latin America’s Green Economy.”

Fair-traded products, produce from small farmers’ projects and alternative concepts in the areas of sustainable, self-replenishing raw materials, sustainable forest and fishing management as well as eco tourism are all established sectors at Expo Sustentat. For many projects the trade fair participation opens up the possibility, for the first time, of entering the market and obtaining specialist further training. The best opportunity for this is offered by the conference programme featuring renowned speakers. The BioFach América Latina and Expo Sustentat support programme is once again set to become a comprehensive further training event: international experts and specialists will present trends, market developments and perspectives. Within the framework of Expo Sustentat, BioTrade, an initiative created by UNCTAD, will shed light on and take a more in-depth look at the themes of biodiversity and ethics in the trade. Examples of this can be found among others in the Sala Andes-Amazônia and Nordeste-Cerrado exhibition sectors.

BioFach América Latina and Expo Sustentat will once again provide exhibitors and trade visitors at the Transamerica Expo Center in São Paulo from 16.-18. October with a comprehensive overview of organic, market opportunities and sustainable projects in South America.

Other BioFach global dates:

• BioFach America, Baltimore: 27.-29. September 2007
• BioFach Japan, Tokyo: 10.-12. October 2007
• BioFach and Vivaness, Nuremberg 21.-24. February 2008
• BioFach China, Shanghai 29.-31. May 2008

Fair participation contact:

Till Ahnert
Nürnberg Global Fairs
Messezentrum
90471 Nürnberg
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 (0) 9 11. 86 06-86 92
till.ahnert@ngfmail.com