Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Published: Monday, November 01, 1999

Organic foods sales in Germany should show double-digit growth this year following 9% growth last year, said the German federal association for natural foods and products, Bundersverband Naturkost Naturwaren BNN. The association estimates the number of sales outlets for natural products at almost 2,500, of which 1,800 are specialists.

The Association for Promotion of Organic Farming in India is beginning to set up an agency for organic certification to tap what it says is the $10 billion worldwide market for organic foods.

Growing demand for agricultural products free of genetically modified organisms (GMO) is likely to boost India’s soybean meal exports this year. The impact of the heightened interest is set to be compounded by increased domestic demand and reduced output in India’s 1999-2000 crop year.

The Iceland supermarket chain of the U.K. will ban all artificial coloring and flavors from its private-label foods. Artificial preservatives only will be tolerated when necessary for safety purposes, the company says.

The European Union warned Thai rice exporters that shipments run the risk of rejection should genetically modified organisms be found in them. A spokesman for the Thai rice exporters’ association told Reuters that the warning would not have an immediate impact on exports but that it had clearly reaffirmed the EU’s stance on the issue.

A U.K. government program to encourage farmers to convert to organic farming has been shelved until 2001 pending system review. More than 700 farmers were accepted into the Organic Farming Scheme, with more than U.S.$26.5 million in aid awarded to producers in the last six months. Although there “will be more money available,” the Countryside Ministry is reevaluating how the funds are allocated, Dow Jones reported.

An opinion poll of nearly 2,000 people, commissioned by the U.K. Soil Association, confirmed huge increases in demand for organic food, with one in three saying they recently had bought some. But the poll also identified a reluctance to spend more on it.

Tsumura & Co. of Japan raised its full-year profit forecast by 25% because of stronger-than-expected sales of its traditional kampo herbal medicines and a reduction in costs. The company is forecasting sales of about $U.S.66.5 million and net income of $U.S.2.34 million in the year to March 2000.

Australia and New Zealand will set international precedent with labeling rules for genetically engineered foods set to take effect in fall 2000. The regulations take effect before Japan’s, which are due in April 2001.

A U.K.-based Internet start-up raised about U.S. $5 million from venture capitalists in just eight days. Clickmango.com, which intends to launch a natural health products website, received the funding from Atlas Venture, which values the company at about U.S. $11.6 million.