Funke: “Understanding what affects the organic sector“

“The networking opportunities during an event like IFOAM’s Organic World Congress are of huge importance for me,” says Udo Funke. It means being able to contact prestigious exponents of the organic movement like Will Allen or Anna Lappé from the USA, who were invited as speakers. On the periphery of the event, meetings took place with representatives of ministries from Germany, various organic associations, FibL, Soil and More and other organic VIPs from around the globe. “Not least, IFOAM is also the patron of BioFach and VIivaness, which is why I’m so pleased to be able to attend such an important event.

Visitors to the informative lectures and discussions not only got to know many interesting speakers but were also able to deepen their knowledge of the many themes. “I’ve learned a lot about the issue of food loss for example,” Funke explains. What is meant by this is the deterioration of food caused by inadequate logistics in many developing countries. Bad roads, little transport by railway and poor refrigeration facilities result in some of the valuable goods spoiling unnecessarily. “But also the whole background ranging from social and health problems, the economical use of energy to policies to promote peace – there are myriad reasons in favour of organic farming everywhere in the world,” is how Funke expresses his conviction.

What’s new and what’s tried and tested at the upcoming BioFach and Vivaness? Once again at the world’s leading trade fair for organic food we’ll see the Specialist Trade Forum. “We’re very pleased with how it went last year,” says a delighted Mr Funke. The conclusion of the BioFach team leader: “The concept with lectures and the stands of BNN and Bioverlag was a great success.”. In 2014, 1,500 people took part in the lectures and events in the Specialist Trade Forum and Club.

Inform, sample, inspire – these are the principles behind the worlds of experience at BioFach, that takes place from 11 – 14 February 2015 in Nuremberg. There’s the new Experience the World of Vegan, plus the gourmet products olive oil and wine. At close range, the anticipated 42,000 or so professional visitors can get reliable information about particular product assortments from proven experts, can try products for themselves and can also find inspiration for their own businesses. Experiencing and enjoying are ensured by presentations plus tastings, workshops and passing on information through dialogue with people thoroughly conversant with the products. Visitors will find Experience the World of Olive Oil in Hall 4, Wine in Hall 7 and Vegan in Hall 6. At Experience the World of Vegan – being held for the first time - they are expecting around 100 exhibitors, and the same applies to Experience the World of Olive Oil. At Experience the World of Wine, visitors can talk to the wholesaler Peter Riegel, and the International Organic Wine Prize Mundus Vini BioFach will be presented. We are told in a press release by BioFach that many more wine exhibitors – in all 120 – will await the visitors on the communal stands representing various countries.

A number of events are planned as a special offer for the catering sector. For the first time Bioland, in cooperation with BioFach at the world’s leading trade fair, is organizing the venue for professional chefs, cook + talk. The aim is to create a platform for the exchange of ideas and information for this segment and to encourage more chefs to use organic ingredients. Anyone interested can seek professional advice and talk to experts on Stand 351 in Hall 7 from Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 February. Organic chefs will answer the questions of visitors, who can see for themselves the latest products in gastronomy and catering at BioFach. The programme of cook + talk also includes tours for chefs, anyone responsible for catering and food & beverage managers.

There’s something new in the field of energy efficiency in Nuremberg as well. After all, exhibitors and visitors at BioFach and Vivaness want to know how environmentally friendly and sustainable the trade fair company is. As Germany’s leading trade fair company, NürnbergMesse has been given the DIN ISO-Certification 50001. For Dr. Roland Fleck and Peter Ottmann, the managing directors of NürnbergMesse, this is an important step towards attaining the energy targets the company has set itself. “With our energy campaign we’ve set the bar really high. After DGNB-certification and introducing electric vehicles, the fact that we’re the first trade fair company to be awarded DIN ISO 50001 for our energy management is truly the icing on the cake!

The reason for the certification is the company’s energy management system that was devised and implemented by their own energy team. A substantial bundle of measures has been put into practice, such as systematically collecting and processing energy data, improving lighting, reducing the use of heat and significantly raising the proportion of renewable energy. If you want to achieve the sought-after DIN ISO-Certification, a comprehensive auditing process requires you to meet sophisticated logistical, technical and legal quality standards. Hall 3A, with its sophisticated design, became operational at the beginning of 2014, and NürnbergMesse now has an exhibition area measuring 170,000 m².

Tip:
Homepage of Biofach
Homepage of Vivaness