"Glocalisation"

The PhytoTeam were at InCosmetics this week where global cosmetics companies were going local... check it out.

Is Fair Trade Fair: have your say!

There's been a fire storm in the Fair Trade world in the week preceding Fairtrade fortnight, as a UK-based policy institute this week slammed Fair Trade, saying that the practice distorts the market and traps some of the world's poorest farmers in a cycle of poverty. The report 'Unfair Trade' issued by the Adam Smith Institute, says that the fair trade movement does little to drive the momentum of the global food chain.

The report's author Marc Sidwell claims that consumers who buy Fair Trade products end up spending more money on poorer quality goods, due to the fact that the Fair Trade system pays farmers a fixed price. This leads to farmers not being pushed financially to improve the quality of their products, and they may even hold the best of the crop back to sell on the open market Sidwell said. The only solution to market distortion is therefore global trade, he added, and countries in Africa should instead remove the restrictive trade barriers currently keeping their economies in chains.

The author even goes so far to accuse Fair Trade organisers of manipulating consumer judgement. "Even assuming Fairtrade goods are all they claim to be, their merit would still deserve to be weighed against the rival schemes or against the possibility that the money might be better spent in other ways," Sidwell said. He goes on to say that by sustaining uncompetitive farmers, Fairtrade holds them back from the processes of diversification and mechanization, depriving them the chance of improving their professional life.

Several Fair Trade organisations were quick to respond to the Adam Smith report, citing a number of inaccuracies. In a statement on its website, the UK Fairtrade organisation denied ignoring the poorest countries in the world. "Few people can doubt that the present outcome of world trade is unfair. Two billion people work extremely hard to earn a living but still earn less than $2 per day and the FAIRTRADE Mark enables British consumers to choose products that help address this injustice. As no-one is forced to join a fair trade producer organisation, or to buy Fairtrade products, you would think that free market economists like the Adam Smith Institute would be pleased at the way the British public has taken our voluntary label to its heart - and to the supermarket checkout - to the tune of nearly half a billion pounds worth of goods in 2007 alone. But their report instead applies totally inflexible dogma and outdated information to criticise Fairtrade producers, without offering any constructive alternative for development other than "leave it to the market".

Fairtrade UK also denied trapping the farmers it works, claiming that the money producers earn through Fairtrade help allows them to invest in diversifying their trade in a way that would not have otherwise been feasible.

Divine, the Fairtrade chocolate company co-owned by a farmers' cooperative in Ghana, pointed out that Fairtrade was established because the market was unfairly biased towards Western firms, not in order to hinder third-world farmers.

the latest...

Well we don't want to get overly excited at the PhytoTrade office as it's been a long and winding path, but it looks as though the the Food Standards Authority in the UK has nearly made their mind up about the status of Baobab Fruit pulp. This would mean a huge opportunity for PhytoTrade members who wish up to ramp up their supplies of this new food ingredient for the European market. We're also aiming towards GRAS (Geneally Recognised As Safe) status in the US which would also open up the North American Market too. We remain calm, and quietly confident...

The buzz around the office is also about our new position as a Trust Provider for ebay on line marketplace, ProjectGood.com. Some of our clients, partners and members have applied for our "Accredited Good Partner Status" with more in the pipeline.

The other thing we're getting excited about is "Formulating for Development". It means that minimum percentages of active ingredients are included in cosmetic formulations to ensure equitable returns to primary producers.

We're also gearing up for the Spring trade shows: BioFach, Natural Products West, InCosmetics, Vitafoods and others. Some new articles due out soon, and fresh new brocures and literature: it's all pretty busy at PhytoTrade!

Great turn out at the natural & organic products expo

It was great to see the huge public interest at the Natural and Organic Product Expo held in Cape Town recently. The show continues to grow every year and this was no exception. What struck me was not only natural and organics increasingly entering the mainstream in South Africa, but also the number of web-based natural products information and sales sites represented at the show. It was impressive.

Three of our members - Olive Workshop, Ecoso and WildFoods exhibited there and it was a real eye opener for them. It is such a great opportunity to to the ultimate market research on your products - to stand up in front of the general public and listen to their comments and suggestions. They all did a great job.

Last chance to nominate your winner!

Last chance for nominating your favourite product or company for the Natural Products awards 2007!

Award time!

Nominate your winner at the annual awards for the best natural products and companies in the industry. Cash prizes... You can even nominate yourself! Nomination forms are available on our website...

Baobab flavoured wellness packs?

Hi Phytotraders, my first ever attempt at a blog. Here we go. I'll be honest and admit this is as much for my benefit as yours. It's 2007 and we can't be luddites forever. Time to get with the programme! Given that I'm the CEO of this motley crew, I suppose I should be leading by example.

(Interestingly my 2003 version of Word doesn't recognise the word "blogging" in its internal dictionary and helpfully suggests that I perhaps meant to type "slogging" or "flogging". Perhaps I did.)

Not quite knowing where one starts with a blog, I thought I'd begin by simply sharing what's on my mind today - the latest issue of South African Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Review (over which I ate my lunch today!). Although it's not actually dedicated to naturals, this issue could easily be, given how much coverage there is of naturals in it.

In amongst articles on Bioharmony (a PhytoTrade member), Enaleni (a BEE shareholder in Bioharmony), nutritional supplements for HIV management and one on African hair care, there was a piece about a new "wellness nutritional pack" that has been launched in SA for immune boosting. The basic ingredient is a corn-soya blend porridge mix, which is the same stuff that is commonly used in supplementary feeding programmes around Africa. However, in this instance it will be selling on the open market rather than being distributed freely by relief organisations. Meaning, in other words, that it will actually have to taste good enough for people to fork out their own cash and buy it.

The target market is obviously rural areas, as one of the ingredients is a water purifying agent (often a problem with a porridge).

From what I could read, though, there isn't any flavouring added to the product. Anyone who's eaten a corn-soya blend can tell you that it tastes like cardboard. If you're going to sell it on the open market, you'll probably need it to taste just a little more exciting than that.

Which, of course, brings us to baobab. This is a fruit powder that is a natural source of minerals and vitamins, is widely available in Africa, is already known to most rural African consumers, and is flavourful and tasty. If I was the one trying to sell this product, I'd definitely be looking for something to add to the mix to help it sell, and I'm very sure baobab would do the job.

Mark my words - one day they'll all have baobab in them. (Or marula, of course!). You read it here first...

There, my first blog. How was it?!

Gus