Know How

Ecovia: Blockchain to build a sustainable food industry?

Know How, Know How

Blockchain is taking off, with a growing number of food companies and retailers experimenting with this new technology. Ecovia Intelligence (formerly Organic Monitor) sees blockchain bringing many sustainability benefits to the food industry. This will be one of the topics at the Sustainable Food Summit in Amsterdam in June.

Natural & Organic Cosmetics Conference Berlin: Cultural changes call for repositioning

Know How, Know How

Changing values, digitalization, increasing competition: The market for natural & organic cosmetics is facing new demands. The 11th edition of the Natural & Organic Cosmetics Conference, to be held September 25-26, 2018 in Berlin will focus on the changes that the cosmetics industry needs to adapt to.

European Parliament’s plenary adopts the new EU organic regulation

Know How, Know How

Today, the European Parliament adopted the text for a new organic regulation, as preliminarily agreed by the Council and the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture in November 2017. The voting was very clear: 466 MEPs voted in favour of the new regulation and only 124 against.

New research results: Environmental risks of genetic engineering plants underestimated

Know How, Know How

Research results from China show that plants made resistant to glyphosate by genetic engineering have a surprisingly high potential for uncontrolled spread.

New documentary about "Monsanto's Toxic Tricks"

Know How, Know How

The Greens in the European Parliament released a documentary on the glyphosate scandal. The video shows in interviews and statements how Monsanto attacks organisations and scientists. Watch the film "Monsanto's Toxic Tricks".

Kraft Heinz to start a new platform for natural food brands

Know How, Know How

Kraft Heinz plans to launch a platform for nurturing, scaling and growing food brands within the organic, natural and super-premium sector, as the US-company announced lately. The new business called Springboard Brands is said to be dedicated to “shape the next generation of food.”

VegMed 2018: Scientific congress on plant-based nutrition as medicine

Know How, Know How

International medical research regularly confirms: Vegetarian and vegan nutrition is an effective component in the treatment and prevention of many chronic diseases. VegMed Scientific Congress in Berlin from 20 to 22 April 2018 offers interested parties the opportunity to inform themselves about the current status of scientific research.

Health Impacts, Green Marketing & Food Ingredients Top of Summit Agenda

Know How, Know How

The upcoming Ecovia Sustainable Foods Summit will focus on health impacts, sustainable ingredients, and green marketing. For the tenth consecutive year, the European edition of this executive summit will be hosted in Amsterdam, on 7-8th June.

Organic India: shape of things

Know How, Know How

A strong regulatory framework and multiple policy initiatives lay the foundation for the rapid development of the organic foods sector in India in the coming years. With the surge in demand for organic foods, and the subsequent influx of new products into the market, organic certification has become crucial to ensure quality and prevent fraud and mislabelling. Certification develops confidence amongst consumers about the product’s genuineness as Organic. It also certifies that the product does not contain any non-organic ingredients and that it complies with the organic production standards laid out by regulatory authorities. Let us take a look at the certification processes in India for organic products.

EU CAP reform: IFOAM EU calls for a clear framework

Know How, Know How

There was no agreement on the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reform for 2020 at the last meeting of the Agriculture Ministers on Monday 19 March. They were unable to agree on common conclusions on the Commission communication on "The future of food and farming", an important milestone in the discussion. 

Sustainable Foods Summit Europe: impacts, ingredients, green marketing

Know How, Know How

The European edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit will take place in Amsterdam on 7-8th June 2018. The summit comprises four conference sessions.

Berlin: Natural & Organic Cosmetics Conference

Know How, Know How

The international cosmetics market is undergoing changes. Natural & organic cosmetics are continuing to be a growth driver and, thanks to continuing demand, a popular market segment. But the change is also bringing on a redefinition. 

GMO: EU General Court strengthens the precautionary principle

Know How, Know How

Last week the General Court of the European Union confirmed the right of civil society organisations to submit legal cases concerning the health risks of genetically engineered plants.

Global study: neonicotinoids found in 75% of honey

Know How, Know How

As the US based research institute Organic Center reported that almost 200 honey samples from across the globe contain a dangerous concentration of neonicotinoids.

Italy: Tutto Bio directory released

Know How, Know How

This year is dedicated to Italian food by the Ministries of Agriculture and Cultural Heritage. Therefore Tutto Bio in its 24th edition chose as its theme innovation, the driving force of organic, food and non-food products.

OPTA: How to achieve 100% organic until 2050?

Know How, Know How

The Organic Processing and Trade Association Europe (OPTA) discussed at Biofach about the question how a complete transformation of food and farming towards the organic standards can be achieved in the coming decades.

Genome editing: Legal expert criticises opinion of Attorney General of the EuCJ

Know How, Know How

Breeding: Organic right from the start

Know How, Know How

 #### TEXT BIOFACH einsetzen ###

Regarding online trade as an opportunity

Know How, Know How

What does increasing digitisation mean for the manufacturers of organic food? That was the topic discussed by the Assoziation ökologischer Lebensmittelhersteller (AöL) and its guests from business and research at Biofach.

USA: Distribution moving towards online retailing

Know How, Know How

Every large food retailer in North America and Europe is now marketing organic foods under their private labels. The next spurt of growth is envisaged to come from mobile apps linked to delivery services.

VIVANESS 2018: natural and organic cosmetics digitalized

Know How, Know How

The future is digital. Digitalization is having an impact in all areas of life and opening up new prospects in the natural and organic cosmetics industry too. Cosmetics are already among the most common products purchased online and German consumers are particularly willing to buy them compared to consumers in other European countries. This is one of a number of aspects that will be under the spotlight when the natural and organic cosmetics industry meets in Nuremberg from 14 to 17 February for VIVANESS, the International Trade Fair for Natural and Organic Personal Care.

EU Organic Regulation: news, challenges and chances

Know How, Know How

After endless discussions and lobby work of organic associations and stakeholders the new EU Organic Regulation is now a fact and has reached the second phase. On this stage, in a common process, the responsible EU-institution and organic sector representatives adapt details of the regulation and inconsistencies in order to makes the new rules beneficial for the value chain and for consumers. A panel at the IFOAOM EU Processing Conference discussed challenges and opportunities together with the Nicolas Verlet, new Head of the Organic Unit of DG Agri, EU Commission. Watch the video.

SOLMACC: new brochure and BioFach seminar

Know How, Know How

Some wider benefits such as greater resilience to water stress or higher water holding capacity of the soil are not always easily noticed in farmers' daily work, however they can be observed long-term. In 2017, many SOLMACC farmers had seen a good harvest compared to their previous yields, but also compared to other farms in their region.

OK-Net EcoFeed launched

Know How, Know How

A new project – OK-Net EcoFeed – aimed at helping organic pig and poultry farmers in achieving the goal of 100% use of organic and regional feed was launched by partners from many European countries last week.

Ecovia Intelligence: new growth phase for sustainable foods and cosmetics

Know How, Know How

In line with Amazon’s takeover of Whole Foods Market, a new growth phase for the organic and sustainable products market has been initiated according to Ecovia Intelligence. The research, training and consulting company predicts the market’s distribution developing towards online retailing and home delivery schemes mainly implemented by mobile apps.