BIOFACH INDIA: India’s most successful organic fair moving to New Delhi

• Better contact-making facilities a key reason for the move
• Visitors can expect numerous highlights

From 10– 12 November 2016, the eighth Biofach India together with INDIA ORGANIC will be opening its doors, this time at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla, New Delhi. The main reason for the move to the Indian capital stated by the organizer NürnbergMesse India and co-organizer International Competence Center of Organic Agriculture (ICCOA), is the increasing demand for organic products in the Indian metropolises. According to them, the opportunities here for organic farmers from rural areas to develop new business contacts with international buyers, are even more attractive. But even for organic companies who do not come from India, thanks to the move to New Delhi, BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC is, with immediate effect, an even more attractive trade platform. A total of more than 170 exhibitors are expected.
Sonia Prashar, Managing Director, NürnbergMesse India, is looking forward to the new location of the event: “Our main aims are on the one hand the promotion of the organic market and, on the other, the further expansion of our already successful BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC trade platform. The prospects are rosy. The Indian organic products market is offering an increasing number of healthy and consistently available alternatives to conventional products. For this reason we can meet the increasing demand for organic products without difficulties. We are particularly delighted to be holding BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC for the first time in our capital and home of NürnbergMesse India, New Delhi.”

Manoj Kumar Menon, Executive Director ICCOA, went on to say: “With this move we are building on the basis, because we have recognized that organic farming is only sustainable for Indian farmers if important market connections can be developed. Having the farmers adjust to the demand along with the certification of their products are two important steps. Permanent business contacts with buyers and companies, which consistently market the organic products, are in contrast absolutely essential to ensure that organic farmers can live from their work and remain motivated. For that reason, we are shifting the event’s venue away from India's largest organic producing state to exactly where organic demand and consumer power are constantly increasing: New Delhi. In November we will be welcoming all the organic players here with open arms.”

In this connection, the NSIC Exhibition Grounds venue is located in a strategically convenient position at the heart of New Delhi, where, among others, numerous major organic chains have opened branches. New Delhi is in general increasingly developing into an organic centre. As a result, on the visitors’ side, we are also expecting numerous buyers from all over India.

Increasing demand for organic in India

The positive mood of the organizers is not down to pure coincidence. In India’s metropolises, organic products have long since ceased being fashion fads. The country’s organic market is developing healthily and constantly growing. The demand for organic fruit and vegetables has clearly risen in the last few years. The reasons for this? People are becoming increasingly health-conscious, are adapting their lifestyle accordingly and also spending more money on organic products. Supermarkets and shopping centres in the major cities are adapting to this trend and today have a range of organic products three times larger than was the case just five years ago. The number of organic stores, retailers and brands in the capital is also increasing and government initiatives are actively promoting the production and consumption of organic products.

For these reasons among others, the next Organic World Congress, organized by the International BIOFACH patron IFOAM (International Foundation for Organic Agriculture), will also be held in New Delhi from 9 to 11 November 2017. One aim of this Congress is to draw the attention of the international organic industry to the enormous further development of organic agriculture in India, but in particular, in and around Delhi within the last few years. According to IFOAM statistics, India also has the largest number of organic farmers in the world.

BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC 2016: what can visitors expect?

In addition to organic foods, visitors to BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC can expect an impressive range of products and services from the sectors of natural personal care/cosmetics and wellness, eco-textiles and certification. Indian government organizations such as the Tea, Spices and Coffee Board are also represented. In this context, BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC is subdivided into two sections: on the one hand there is the BIOFACH INDIA event in which Indian and international organic producers are showing exclusively certified products. On the other, in the INDIA ORGANIC section, Indian organic players are positioned, to be more exact, state-sponsored pavilions, cooperatives and farmers, whose products have all been grown organically, but who however do not yet possess an organic certificate and currently find themselves in the switch-over process to organic.

One highlight of the support program is the international conference. It is covering the themes and issues concerning the entire organic value-added chain: from production up to sales and marketing. In specialist lectures and presentations, case studies and using best-practice examples, the participants are provided not only with information on the current organic market trends and developments. Tried-and-tested and sustainable cultivation methods along with the theme of soil and nutrient management are also to be discussed. In addition, the conference is also offering an optimum communication platform for the exchange on sector-relevant themes.

More organic in India's kitchens! That is the motto of the Consumer Connect Program, which was also already a success in Kerala. The initiative is being adopted at BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC in New Delhi. Its aim is to inform end-consumers about organic and familiarize them with an organic way of life. In exciting lectures and presentations, nutritional experts will be informing the participants about organic food and its significance for food safety, the environment and people's own health. In active workshops, organic farmers, cooperatives, agricultural experts and doctors will be showing the advantages of organic farming and a sustainable lifestyle. Important target groups for Consumer Connect are school pupils and working mothers with little free time. Questions put by the participants will be answered in great detail, quizzes and small prize competitions will help to make the program more entertaining.

Once again in 2016: organized B2B meetings and buyers’ tour

Business development is a central theme at BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC. In 2015, on three trade fair days, 273 organized B2B meetings between exhibitors and buyers were held, in which 13 international buyers from the USA, Germany, Italy, South Korea, the Netherlands and the Middle East along with 13 Indian buyers came together with numerous organic producers. The result: business networks were successfully developed or expanded, new procurement sources opened up. According to records, the turnover resulting from the discussions and meetings has so far reached around 570 million US Dollars.

At BIOFACH INDIA together with INDIA ORGANIC 2016 too, buyers from Europe and the USA can participate in these meetings within the framework of an organized buyers’ tour. The tour participants are also provided with a unique opportunity to experience the diverse organic raw products market on site at first hand, link up with producers on site in the production facilities and at the fair and also identify business possibilities. The buyers’ tour is being organized by ICCOA in cooperation with German BioFach journalist Karin Heinze. Interested companies can obtain more information directly from her at: kaheinze@t-online.de

The next BIOFACH events:

• BIOFACH, Nuremberg: 15 – 18 February 2017
• BIOFACH AMERICA, Baltimore:22 – 24 September 2016
• BIOFACH CHINA, Shanghai: 25 – 27 May 2017
• BIOFACH AMERICA LATINA, São Paulo: 07 – 10 June 2017
• BIOFACH JAPAN, Tokyo: 24 – 26 August 2017

BIOFACH World

NürnbergMesse has proven expertise in the area of organic food. The international organic industry meets every year in Nuremberg at BIOFACH, the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food. BIOFACH World is represented across the globe by five other BIOFACH events in Japan, the United States, South America, China and India, and brings over 3,000 exhibitors and 100,000 trade visitors together year after year.