EU Commissioner campaigns for more organic farming

The new EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski strives to make organic farming the norm. This was announced by the Polish politician at the reception of the Bund für Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft BÖLW (Organic Food Production Alliance) at the Green Week in Berlin. He additionally promised an action plan for organic food.

Selection: 7 Biofach Events in Englisch Language

At the world's leading trade fair BioFach in Nuremberg from 12-15 February, there are not only lots of new products but also valuable information for everyday trading. A selection of events in English language for international visitors.

Laverana Natural Cosmetics: Innovation as a driver

Natural cosmetics for everyone and everywhere – that is the ambition of Laverana, manufacturer of the Lavera brand. The pioneer now exports to 40 countries. But development, production and distribution still take place in the Hanover region. A visit to the “heart” of the company, the new research and development laboratory and test centre.

Coming up: Organic Food Iberia showcases organic products in June

Plans for the second edition of Organic Food Iberia are now well underway. Since its successful launch edition six months ago, more than 70% of its exhibition space for 2020 is already booked – with pavilions from the USA, Korea, France, and Austria confirmed.

Biofach and Vivaness Congress 2020: Programme now online

Biofach and Vivaness provide a 360° overview of organic food and natural and organic cosmetics not least thanks to its broad-ranging congress. The unique events programm has been published now.

New management of FiBL Switzerland

The foundation board has elected: Knut Schmidtke, Marc Schärer and Lucius Tamm form the new management of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) Switzerland. As of April 1, they will take over the management of FiBL from Urs Niggli.

German organic certifier Ceres becomes part of the Easy-Cert Group

The German organic certifier Ceres recently became part of the Easy-Cert Group AG, which was founded in June 2019 as a holding company for the Austrian inspection authority Austria Bio Garantie and the Swiss Bio Inspecta. This means that three renowned inspection bodies from the DACH are now operating under one umbrella.

No veto from Brussels: Austria can ban glyphosate

The European Commission did not block the glyphosate prohibition passed by the Austrian parliament. It could come into force at the beginning of 2020. It is still open whether the glyphosate producer Bayer will take legal action against the prohibition act. And in Austria the responsible ministries are slowing down the process.

Finnish Quinoa for Europe

Amongst other crops, Juha and Kari Raininko farm quinoa in Finland – for the brothers the plant of the future and for the European market an alternative to imports from South America. The brothers are also successful with the rest of their products.

Finnish Organic Supermarket Chain

With a population of 5.3 million, the Finnish market is relatively small. The organic market in Finland has been growing steadily for years. From 2017 to 2018 alone, it grew by 8.7 percent to a sales volume of 336 million euros. In order to compete against the big conventional stores, the only Finnish organic supermarket chain has to be innovative.

Australia decided: Crispr instead of organic

The Australian parliament has sanctioned the government’s decision to exclude new genetic engineering processes from genetic engineering law. “No other country is deregulating CRISPR GMO technology to the extent that Australia is”, comments Glenn Schaube, chairman of the Australian organic association NASAA. He fears drastic consequences for Australia’s organic farmers.

European Business Awards: bio verlag is national winner

The bio verlag, the publishing company of organic-market.info, was awarded “National Winnter” in the category “Social Responsibility and Environmental Awareness” at the European Business Awards. Manager Sabine Kauffmann accepted the award in Warsaw.

Edible drinking straws in Aldi shelves

From 2021 on, plastic drinking straws will be banned in the EU. Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd will start selling the world’s first edible straws from the start-up company Wisefood in just a few days.

Lack of demand: Swiss organic farmers have to sell milk cheaper

The demand for organic milk in Switzerland is growing, but not strongly enough. Many newly converted organic farms have to sell milk at a lower price.

New genetic engineering: The EU plays for time

In July 2018, the European Court of Justice clarified that new genetic engineering processes such as CRISPR/Cas and the organisms produced with them are subject to genetic engineering law. Since then, EU member states have been discussing how to deal with this ruling. As there is no consensus, they first tasked the European Commission with conducting a study – and thus postponed the issue.

EU Eco-Regulation: First concrete rules available for comments

The new EU Eco-Regulation will still have to be complemented by numerous rules. The first of these were made available online for comments by the EU Commission.

Bioland-president: reducing enemy stereotypes

In order to meet the climate targets, the organic sector must reduce enemy images and connect people. This was the demand of Jan Plagge, President of the Bioland Association, at the eco-marketing days in Kirchberg.

Purchase decision: what defines a perfect tomato?

Researchers at the university of Göttingen, Germany, asked 1.000 consumers about their consumption preferences when purchasing tomatoes. Organic was not a focus of the study, but the results could be transferrable to organic tomatoes.

Spanish organic vegetables: organic specialist trade is taking action against artificial fertilizer

Spanish organic certification authorities allow the use of artificial fertilizer in organic vegetable farming. Organic-market.info asked whether the German organic specialist trade is affected as well. The result: Those with activity in Spain and high quality standards have known about the problem for a while and are well prepared.

Sales record for Sonnentor

Herbal specialist Sonnentor has set a sales record for the 2018/19 financial year and is planning to open two more stores this year.