Organic &
Wellness News
Wellness News
The international publication for organic and sustainable trade
Organic & Wellness News
The international publication for organic and sustainable trade
Warren Beaumont
Canada’s leading food and health and beauty retailer Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended October 5, 2019, with Loblaw same-store retail sales flat at 0.1 percent growth compared to 3Q 2018 and front
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Whole Foods Market’s global buyers and experts revealed in late October the most innovative food trends for 2020 in the retailer’s fifth annual trends predictions announcement. Regenerative agriculture, West African foods, meat-plant blends, and new varieties
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Several French mayors asked French President Emmanuel Macron to take action about banning pesticides such as glyphosate, following the president’s calls for “moderation” during a Congress of Mayors, which took place on Tuesday 19 November in Paris, accor
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The latest organic sales and statistics for organic product sales released earlier this year show continued growth in agricultural growers and land use. And a much stronger increase in annual sales over the previous year: the EU, up almost 11 percent in 2017; the UK up 5.
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The French organic market is showing strong growth. It reached 9.7 billion euros in 2018, 15.7 percent higher compared to 2017. After Germany, France is the second-largest consumer of organic products in Europe. The influence of the Bio label has reached record levels. Fr
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Advocacy groups for non-GMO and organically produced food in the US, the EU and Australia called on their federal governments and lawmakers in July-August to maintain current genetically modified organisms’ legislation and not to allow self-regulation or include GM/
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In the US, non-consumable, hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) products have been popping up on shelves within major retail outlets and generating a big buzz. Nielsen Insights research predicts that by 2025, the US hemp-derived CBD market could be a USD6 billion industry, while
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In 2017, more deaths were caused by diets containing too low amounts of foods such as whole grains, fruit, nuts, and seeds, than by diets with high levels of sugar, trans fats and red and processed meats. People in almost every region of the world could benefit from rebal
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Vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based foods are a rapidly growing retail market. The number of people who consume plant-based and flexitarian diets (adding some dairy, fish, and meat) was reported in 2019 as 65 percent to 90 percent up in several countries (to 12 percent in
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Sales in the Irish grocery market hit record levels as shoppers splashed out EUR208.2 million in the Easter week alone helping the overall sector grow by 4.1 percent in the 12 weeks to 21 April 2019, according to the latest figures from Kantar on May 7, 2019. Meanwhile,
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A new organic industry strategy and a sustainability program are set to give Ireland’s organic sector a higher profile and increased exports. Ireland’s food, drink and horticulture exports reached EUR12.1 billion in 2018, two percent up by volume following
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North American and EU organic groups were asked to provide comments on the new Regenerative Organic Certification, including whether this new certification is complementary to existing organic labels or will create consumer confusion, while we have included an extract fro
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The organic sector has secured funding for organic agricultural research and education in the 2018 Farm Bill, which will provide $395 million over the next 10 years. USA organic trade group the Organic Trade Association (OTA) applauded the 2018 Farm Bill conference comm
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Following a four-year partnership, Instacart and Whole Foods Market will be winding down their relationship and will immediately start the first phase of a transition that will affect hundreds of jobs, after Instacart cut the cost of grocery delivery by a third in late No
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Canada, the USA and Australia are seeing a major increase in new product launches and acquisitions in hemp food and medical marijuana in 2018, with the market heating up after Canada became the largest country with a legal, recreational marijuana marketplace on October 17
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Swedish organic and sustainability label KRAV's role includes developing organic standards and promoting the KRAV label. It has 7,000 certified companies and approximately 9,000 products. Organic & Wellness News' Warren Beaumont spoke with KRAV's Anita Falkenek about
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In 2019 the Naturally Good Expo will move to 2-3 June and expects to welcome over 450 well established and emerging businesses. This year the event was held at the ICC Sydney, Darling Harbour on 29-30 April 2018 and received over 360 exhibitors, including international ex
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The 6th edition of Natural and Organic Asia, previously known as Natural & Organic Products Asia - NOPA and now owned by UBM Asia Limited, expects more than 9,000 visitors next year when the doors open at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 28-30 August 20
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Despite Amazon reporting its second straight quarter of record profitability late October, its robust revenue growth is cooling due to more competition for Amazon Web Services, while its slower-growing Whole Foods Market business faces stiffer competition from the likes o
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Organic Sweden announced in October that it had been commissioned by the Swedish Board of Agriculture to implement a three-year information campaign on organic food with organic farmers, the Swedish Consumers epoch (SLU) and communications agency Futerra. The Agriculture
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Brazilian authorities announced in May this year that five-grain trading houses, including major US agribusiness traders Cargill Inc and Bunge Ltd, and dozens of farmers have been fined a total of 105.7 million reais (US$29 million) for activities connected to illegal def
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On July 24, 2018, non-governmental organization ClientEarth published a report called Risk unwrapped: Plastic pollution as a material business risk and said that companies face serious material business risks for their involvement in creating plastic waste. And the UK Lo
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A sustainable, flexible packaging wrap that is comprised of cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp and chitin nanofibers found in the discarded shells of crabs and shrimp, developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US, could replace petroleum-based materials u
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Peru and its export agency MINCETUR, the Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo is expanding the promotion of Peruvian foods with more trade shows and missions such as at the recent Natural & Organic Products Asia Hong Kong show and the Natural Products Scandinavia
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The Natural Products Expo East show returns to the Baltimore Convention Center on September 13-15, 2018, where over 1500 exhibitors will connect with buyers and customers and look for new products, trends and ideas in the USA's US$50 billion organic market. According to
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Roobar®, a delicious, organic, raw superfood bar made simply from dried fruit, raw nut and superfoods said to be Europe's number one best-selling organic health bar, is now available in the United States, the Roo Brands company announced in July. And Roobar's owner,
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UK-based ingredient supplier Cambridge Commodities Ltd has acquired the ingredient business of US wholesaler Earth Circle Organics LLC. Following the acquisition, Earth Circle Organics' raw and organic superfood ingredient business will merge with the US arm of Cambridge
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Fairtrade International, the most recognized global ethical certification system, is one of the few schemes with the ability to improve sustainable livelihoods for cocoa farmers and workers. Now Fairtrade has introduced Living Income and sustainability strategies to help
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Researchers such as Euromonitor, Mintel and SPINS have pointed to increased sales of non-dairy plant milk in Europe and the US since 2016, while early 2018 reports suggest US dairy farmers found themselves with a surplus of organic cow's milk in the last few years, as sho
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With misleading organic claims and greenwashing a major issue for certified organic products in Australia, leading organic industry group, Australian Organic, welcomed action by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to impose penalties of AUD$37,800
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Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, which uses its own gluten-free symbol on product labels (Bob's Red Mill's "GF" Mark), filed a lawsuit in June against the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America in US district court in Portland, which wants Bob's to stop using the gluten-f
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New findings released on April 30 at Naturally Good Expo in Sydney by leading organic industry group Australian Organic show an uptake in household spending allocated to organic produce and goods. According to the annual Australian Organic Market Report, 40 percent of org
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Three important announcements on packaging's environmental sustainability and the impact of food contact materials on consumer health in Europe were made this past spring with Euractiv hosting a workshop on the topic of 'Safe and circular: Making food contact material wor
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Amazon.com is looking to expand its Whole Foods Market (WFM) brick-and-mortar retail network with bigger stores to bolster the online shopping business just seven months after it acquired Whole Foods in late August 2017 for US$13.7 billion. And WFM regional marketing staf
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Australia's Naturally Good Expo, the largest trade show for the natural, organic and healthy products sector in the country, is set for a brighter future under new ownership and looking to fix the "samplers and sellers" issues at the 2017 event. The show was run for three
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Carrefour Group has announced a significant transformation plan with EUR2 billion in cost savings including voluntary redundancies and closing of 273 ex DIA stores. It will also invest EUR5 billion for expansion of organic sales and food e-commerce followed with a potenti
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Many new food and beverage trends were displayed at the BIOFACH 2018 fair held in Nuremberg on 14-17 February. The OWN trend picks were nuts, seeds, Andean superfoods and spices in foods and beverages, snack foods and confectionery. Prominent at BIOFACH 2018 were cashew
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Major organic markets globally have continued to post double-digit or high single-digit sales growth in 2016-17, with France's organic market growing 22 percent, Switzerland having the highest per capita spending (274 Euros) and Denmark the highest organic market share at
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If one word could sum up NATEXPO, it would be “successful” with nine out of ten visitors saying the exhibition is the essential must-attend event in France for France's EUR7 billion organic sector, according to a visitor survey. Now that the show has become a
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Amazon's food and beverage sales gained a boost after it grabbed more grocery turnover in 2017 through sales of Whole Food Markets 365 private label, while a major Amazon grocery move is predicted in Germany and possibly for Whole Foods in Australia. Amazon’s groce
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Pioneering Egyptian sustainable and social enterprise SEKEM celebrated 40 years in 2017. From small beginnings, SEKEM has grown to a significant project providing individual development and work for thousands of farmers, co-workers, and other people. Warren Beaumont spoke
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One of the first manufacturers of natural health supplements in the US is NOW Foods, a family-owned firm founded in 1968 and based in DuPage County west of Chicago. This company has grown to produce a vast range of high quality organic and health foods, dietary supplement
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In this edition of Organic & Wellness News we look at another third-party global ethical certification system, the Certified B Corporations label, where individual B Corps companies aspire to and meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performa
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PCC Natural Markets, now has a new name – PCC Community Markets – reflecting its community-focused mission and new services celebrating local producers, organic foods and healthy eating. The name change was announced in September, by community-owned PCC Natura
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Numi launched completely compostable tea bag wraps Going 'Beyond Organic' and providing truly sustainable, recyclable, biodegradable and compostable packaging with low environmental impact is becoming an important achievement for companies selling certified organic food
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Dandelion herbal teas and coffee substitutes are one of the bitter herbs in demand in the specialist channel.A recent SPINS research Trend Watch looked at some emerging but lesser-known botanical herbs and highlighted Dandelion, Wormwood, Ginger, Reishi and Turmeric and o
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French president Emmanuel Macron's ambitions to shake up the food sector and ensure producers are price setters rather than price takers, addressing the imbalance of power in the food sector that would return more money to farmers, are at odds with French government plans
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The senior leadership of IFOAM – Organics International is about to change in the next half-year from November when The General Assembly of IFOAM – Organics International will elect a new world board and a new president on 12-13 November 2017, in New Delhi, fo
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Lipton works with Rainforest Alliance to ensure tea is sourced sustainablyFollowing its acquisition of the world's fastest-growing organic tea brand in UK organic herbal tea company Pukka Herbs Ltd in September, the US division of UK-Dutch food conglomerate Unilever said
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RXBAR protein bars.Big food makers are betting on healthier and environmentally-conscious foods and tapping into new brands to make up for falling sales of sugary, processed products. Kellogg is buying protein-bar Maker RXBAR for $600 Million, while Nestle is expanding it
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Loblaw's MarketCanada's largest grocery chain Loblaw Companies Ltd is cutting about 500 jobs across the company, and plans to reinvest the savings into digital and e-commerce services, the company said on October 16 as Loblaw, competitor Metro and US chain Ahold step up t
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The Swedish Chemicals Agency will map hazardous substances in rubber, silicone, paper and board; targeting chemicals of concern not yet regulated in the EU. In an article published on September 19, 2017, regulatory news provider Chemical Watch reported that the Swedish C
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Coop Denmark, which operates major supermarkets such as Super Brugsen, Irma and Fakta, has launched a campaign on ‘cocktails’ of hazardous chemicals in consumer products, and urged the Danish government to ban per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and
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Under changes planned for April 2018, leading North American natural and organic grocer Whole Foods Market will change the way companies can sell and promote their products in its stores and do away with allowing representatives of lesser-known products into the stores to
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Industry confidence in the French organic and natural products market is highly positive approaching the 2017 edition of Natexpo, the French bi-annual international trade show for organic products, helped by a record-breaking 800 plus exhibitors taking space (580 in 2015)
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Organic consumption in France has shown robust growth over the last decade with sales by specialist bio stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets, and the food service showing exceptional double-digit growth since 2014. The French market is outperforming Europe's number one o
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French specialist Bio stores had a higher (20 percent-plus) sales growth and market share in organic grocery and fruits and vegetables compared to the hypermarket/supermarket channel in 2016, a trend that has continued since 2011. Outside the large retail groups Carrefou
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Copenhagen challenges bigger cities such as London for the breadth of its organic and whole food offer. Shoppers can find organics in produce, packaged groceries, food to go or eat in across many different retail outlets such as whole food bakeries, raw and vegan bars, na
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Diane van Zwanenberg of Coconut Matter, Hong Kong, showing Nuilife's certified organic coconut oil from the Solomon Islands at NOPA Hong KongA new longitudinal cohort study published by UK medical journal The Lancet could help raise the profile of saturated fats such as c
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Following the news that Amazon and Whole Foods Market had entered into a definitive merger agreement in June under which Amazon will acquire WFM for around US$13.7 billion, negatives and positives surrounding the deal were raised, including a potential anti-trust hearing,
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Major Brazilian supermarket chain, Pao de Acucar Brazil has no signed regulatory equivalence agreement in International trade and is only willing to accept equivalency agreements if other countries provide audits, a participatory guarantee system, and social control, sai
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This year’s BioFach, world leading organic trade fair held in Nuremberg, Germany 13-16 February, was considered by most international visitors a success. While talk around the show was that the exhibition area was much smaller and trade visitor numbers were down,
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