BioFach 2013 – an organic extravaganza!
From 13 – 16 February 2013 it was the annual BioFach International Organic Trade Fair in Nuremburg, Germany where 2,396 exhibitors (from 86 countries) presented their products to 41,500 trade visitors from 130 countries. SOGA Organic was there to witness the world’s biggest exhibition for organic products and THE get-together for customers, suppliers, all partners and potential new customers.
Organic products on display ranged from fresh & frozen food, beverages, household products (even bio-degradable clingwrap!), sweets, cosmetics, clothing and many more.
As an organic NFC Juice processor and wholesaler it was very encouraging to note that organic produce is very much alive & well in Europe.
It’s noteworthy to mention that 99% of the fruit juice exhibitors at BioFach produce and bottle only Not-From-Concentrate (NFC) juice. Until recently organic juice was predominantly made by reconstituted organic concentrate, but the trend in Europe is definitely shifting towards pure single strenght NFC. From our discussions with these exhibitors the main reason for the shift in trend is that NFC does not compromise the quality and integrity of the product – it is pure organic juice! After tasting all the various juices at the fair, the products made from concentrate were far inferior to the NFC juice and didn’t even taste like real juice. Just another affirmation that NFC is definitely the way to go.
It was a real honour and privilege to attend this exceptional event and I’ve returned enlightened, inspired and very positive about the future of organics.
We look forward to an exciting season ahead!
Lize Garrod
Marketing Manager
One of the SOGA Growers, Paul Marais, had the following comments.
“It’s been my third visit to BioFach the past five years and I’m still amazed how the organic awareness in Europe continues to grow in quantum leaps. Evidence of this growing trend is that there was nothing I could think of that I needed that was not available at BioFach. Everything from organic meat, fish, cheese, wine, juice all the way down to organic sweets for kids.
At the same time it is very concerning to to realize just how far behind South Africa is in our thinking and attitude towards embracing organic agriculture. However, at the same time this creates opportunity for those South African entrepeneurs who dare to venture into organics.”