News

Sarah Venter of Eco Products won the Best In Show Award

Read about it on our award winners page.

Township Trades wins 2009 Award

The winner of the 2009 PhytoTrade Africa Natural Product Award is Township Trades whose dynamic Cape Town based team that have carefully blended Africa’s rich botanical heritage into the Nurture range of natural soaps.

The award, now in its fourth year, is offered to a person, product or business in Southern Africa that has demonstrated commitment to developing ethical and environmentally sustainable products with natural ingredients.

Township Trades wins a cash prize of R20,000 and an all-expenses-paid booth at the 2010 Natural & Organic Products Exhibition.

A social enterprise based in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, Township Trades aim is to help young adults affected by HIV, and provide young people with the business skills to become independent through trade.

Awards judge Dr Nigel Gerike said “it’s an admirable example of use of sustainably harvested African natural products that empower disadvantaged township people through training and production. Township Trades should be rewarded with this prize for winning supply contracts for retailers in the South Africa and overseas.”

Judge Tatjana von Bormann, co-ordinator for the GreenChoice partnership, commended Township Trades Nurture soaps “of all the nominated products they have gone the furthest in terms of positioning the product to appeal to a wide and sophisticated audience.”

Lucian Russ, Director of Township Trades said "The PhytoTrade award means everything for the whole Township Trades team, as it represents peer recognition and reminds us that we are not alone. There is a whole community working together for the same goals. We will use the prize money to bolster our ability to develop and deliver to more commercial opportunities".

Previous winners of the award include Wildfoods in 2008 for its Marula Stix, Elephant Pepper in 2007 for its Baobab Gold Pepper Sauce and Grinder, and Speciality Foods of Africa in 2006 for its Baobar baobab cereal bar.

PhytoNews Update: March 2009

PhytoNews Update: December 2008

Move over goji, here comes Baobab!

Baobab fruit pulp is set to be the latest nutritious and exotic food to hit supermarket shelves in Europe, following novel foods approval by the European Commission. The iconic Baobab is a common feature of the landscape in southern Africa and its fruit has been eaten for generations across Africa. It has an exceptionally high Vitamin C content, is rich in anti-oxidants, natural fibre and an excellent source of calcium and iron.

Under EU legislation, any food that has not been eaten in Europe prior to 1997 is classified as a “novel food” and must gain special approval before it can be used in products for the European market. An application for novel foods approval for Baobab was made by PhytoTrade in 2006 and was supported by an independent committee of scientists appointed by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA).

"Baobab fruit pulp is an ideal ingredient for cereal bars and smoothies" said PhytoTrade’s Cyril Lombard. "Novel foods approval will be a winner for consumers, manufacturers and producers. It will also be fantastic news for Africa, making a real difference to poor rural communities by offering them a potentially life changing source of income." A 2007 report by Ben Bennett of the UK’s Natural Resources Institute estimates that Baobab has the potential to be a billion dollar industry for Africa and could employ over 2.5 million households.

Baobab approval imminent

The fruit of the African Baobab tree could soon be latest nutritious and exotic food to hit supermarket shelves in Europe, pending a decision by the European Commission’s Novel Foods Committee expected in the next few weeks. The iconic Baobab is a common feature of the landscape in southern Africa and its fruit has been eaten for generations across Africa. It has an exceptionally high Vitamin C content, is rich in anti-oxidants, natural fibre and an excellent source of calcium and iron.

Under EU legislation, any food that has not been eaten in Europe prior to 1997 is classified as a “novel food” and must gain special approval before it can be used in products for the European market.An application for novel foods approval for Baobab was made by PhytoTrade in 2006 and was supported by an independent committee of scientists appointed by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA).

‘Baobab fruit pulp is an ideal ingredient for cereal bars and smoothies” said PhytoTrade’s Cyril Lombard. Novel foods approval will be a winner for consumers, manufacturers and producers. It will also be fantastic news for Africa, making a real difference to poor rural communities by offering them a potentially life changing source of income.’ A 2007 report by Ben Bennett of the UK’s Natural Resources Institute estimates that Baobab has the potential to be a billion dollar industry for Africa and could employ over 2.5 million households.

Newsletter Number 22 Available Now!

The latest newsletter has been issued and is available for download as a pdf file.

Old Newsletters available in the Archive. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Formulating for Development

PhytoTrade Africa is starting a new initiative called “Formulating for You and Development”. The Association is developing guidelines that establish the best formulation criteria not only for the consumer, but also ensure that optimum percentages of raw materials - specifically lipid oils and botanical extracts - are included in formulations to ensure meaningful financial returns to producers. This provides a guarantee to consumers that the product is not only formulated with the best possible levels of active ingredients, but also that through purchasing the product, they are making a contribution to community development amongst producer groups that we work with across southern Africa.

Union for Ethical BioTrade Launched

The Union for Ethical BioTrade was launched at Vitafoods International trade fair in Geneva on 8 May 2007. PhytoTrade Africa has been working with UNCTAD towards setting up this Union as an organisation to promote and recognise ethical and biodiversity-friendly trading practices. The Union has generated a lot of support and interest, and representatives from PhytoTrade Africa, IFC and IUCN's head office were present at the launch meeting, all of which are part of the founding membership. At its founding meeting, the members present elected a twelve-person Board to manage the affairs of the UEBT.

Founding members include: Aldivia S.A., (France), Cocoamar-ket (Ecuador), Comercia Alternativo de Produtos No Tradicionales y Desarrollo en Latinoamerica (CANDELA, Peru), Comisión de Promoción del Perú (PROMPERÚ, Peru), Corporación de Promoción de Exportaciones e Inversiones (CORPEI, Ecuador), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Labfarve, Laboratorios Fitofarma e.i.r.l. (Peru), Nativa (Colombia), Natura Cosméticos S/A (Brazil), Organic partners (UK), PhytoTrade Africa (Southern Africa), Peruvian Nature S&S SAC, Pi Environmental Consulting (Switzerland), Sustainway (France), Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB), the United Nations Foundation (UNF), and the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Visit www.uebt.ch for more information.

Download the description as a 482k pdf here

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Ubuntu Natural™: Fair Trade African magic mixed with cutting edge green technology

Elizabeth Dlamini, herbalist and skincare adviser to a whole generation of local women has skin that glows. She beams as she explains why. “Here in the Royal Kingdom of Swaziland we are proud of our plants that we use in our traditional beauty regimes. Our grandmothers taught us how to prepare cosmetics from the oil of the Marula nut” she continues. Now, Swaziland’s best kept beauty secret is brought to the international cosmetics market by Ubuntu Natural™ at InCosmetics 2007.

The Ubuntu Natural™ range, was launched three years ago by Aldivia®, innovative specialist in plant actives for cosmetics and PhytoTrade Africa, the Southern African Natural Products Trade Association. The range brings the exceptional natural properties of Baobab, Marula, Ximenia, Mongongo, Kalahari melon, and Mafura to the cosmetic industry. The partners have enshrined their common values in the Ubuntu charter.

Fair Trade and protection of the Environment are at the core of the project: “The natural African oils such as those sourced from Elizabeth Dlamini’s community in Swaziland are now on course for organic certification and exclusively sourced through ethical supply chains” says PhytoTrade Africa Chief Executive, Gus Le Breton. “In addition, we guarantee that Ubuntu Natural™lipids have been produced using indigenous plant materials that have been sustainably wild-harvested by the primary producers, actively protecting biodiversity”, he continues. “And we are now introducing tree nurseries throughout the region to minimise our carbon footprint”, he adds.

“Much research and development was necessary to meet Northern market requirements” says Pierre Charlier, CEO of Aldivia®. “The Ubuntu Natural™ range, thanks to our green technology development, offers virgin oils of excellent quality that are perfectly safe from a microbiological and toxicological standpoint”.

Aldivia® is also launching Viatenza® a range of brand new water dispersible derivatives. Mikaële Raynard, manager of the Aldivia® R&D department, says “from 100% vegetable origin, Viatenza® can be used in certified organic and ecological cosmetics. African oils in shampoos, shower gels, lotions, bath oils as well as anti-ageing and emollient milks and creams can now provide a green solution for many formulations”.

“Our clients can be confident about the contribution they are making to local livelihoods through purchasing products that contain our oils” enthuses Pierre Charlier. “By creating new markets for African raw materials, PhytoTrade Africa, Aldivia® and our customers add value at the local level, preserve traditional culture, and are safe in the knowledge that indigenous trees will be conserved for generations to come”.

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Certification Update

PhytoTrade Africa is committed to supplying high quality, ethical and environmentally sustainable products to our clients: third party certification is a key tool for verifying this. We provide grants and advice to our members to help them attain certification, as well as lobbying certifiers to consider the Southern African context within which these products are produced. This will make PhytoTrade Africa members world leaders in supplying Certified Indigenous raw materials. All PhytoTrade Africa products are produced to Ubuntu Natural™ standards that enshrine: Fair and reliable supply chains; Commitment to biodiversity conservation; Social and regulatory equity; Green technology. Ubuntu Natural™ products include: Marula oil, Kalahari Melon Seed oil, Mafura butter, Baobab oil, Ximenia oil, Parinari oil, Mongongo oil. Read the the Ubuntu Natural™ charter here.

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Organic (EcoCert)

Devil’s Claw (Certified Dec ‘06)
Marula oil, Kalahari Melon Seed oil and Baobab oil (Certified Feb '07)
Mafura butter and Ximenia oil are preparing for EcoCert examination (June ’07)

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Fair Trade (FLO)

News is expected soon about the following products that are currently being assessed by the Standards Unit at FLO: Marula, Kalahari Melon Seed, Ximenia, Trichilia, Baobab, Mafura, Parinari, Mongongo.

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The Union of Ethical BioTrade (UEBT)

Guided by the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), membership of the UEBT provides a mechanism for verification according to their compliance and improvement with:

Conservation of biodiversity
Sustainable use of biodiversity
Equitable sharing of benefits
Socio-economic sustainability
Compliance with national and international legislation and agreements
Respect for the rights of actors involved in BioTrade activities
Clarity about land tenure, use and access to natural resources and knowledge.

PhytoTrade Africa is supporting this initiative as it is applicable to all stakeholders in the supply chain, and encompasses sustainability through considering ethics alongside environmental priorities. http://www.uebt.ch/

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