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Soil Association consult on air freight ban… and other options The Soil Association Standard's Board is to consult on a range of options to tackle the environmental impact of airfreighting organic food. The organic organisation made the announcement on the eve of its annual conference in January. The board will publish a consultation paper outlining options ranging from labelling produce and carbon offsetting to an outright ban on airfreighting. This outline document will lead to a formal recommendation given to the Soil Association’s elected council within 12 months. "There is a strong demand, from the public and many of our licensees, to reduce food miles," said Soil Association director Patrick Holden, speaking from the conference in Cardiff. "Although there is very little airfreighting of organic produce, we believe there is an urgent and pressing need to make every contribution to curbing climate change that we can. This is a complex issue though: especially for producers in developing countries where it involves equity and ethical trading issues, and that's why we shall actively engage a wide-range of stakeholders to ensure we get it right." Urgent call to action at One Planet conference Soil Association director, Patrick Holden, has called for urgent, community-based, grassroots action to achieve a post-peak oil, and climate-friendly, food and farming future. The Soil Association is entering a new and crucial phase of work- adapting to the constraints of diminishing oil and the need to cut climate change gas emissions by building lower energy and more resilient systems of food production and distribution, said Holden. He described the organisation’s recent conference, 'One Planet Agriculture - preparing for a post-peak oil food and farming future', as the most important in the Soil Association’s 60 year history. It confirmed the vision of its founders in highlighting the unsustainability of the post-war shift to industrial farming, long before the term sustainability had been coined. “But the scale and urgency of the challenge to get farming and food production globally onto a sustainable, climate-friendly footing is greater than those organic pioneers could have envisaged. Individual, grassroots action is at the heart of our conference agenda, neither the Soil Association, the public or the planet have the appetite or time for more political rhetoric,” said Holden. New Organix Foundation founded with company profits Lizzie Vann, the founder in 1992 of Organix, has set up a new charity, The Organix Foundation, funded with Organix profits. It is dedicated to delivering effective independent research into links between food quality and children’s health. Vann takes up the role of chairwoman of the company from February 1, while Anna Rosier, formerly in charge of the sales team, takes over as managing director. Anna, who joined Organix in 2004, has formerly worked with Gillette and Coca Cola. Since joining Organix she has seen revenue grow by 74% and anticipates further fast growth as Organix fulfils its role as category innovator with the launch of 15 new foods this year. The company currently has sales growing at 35% per annum with annual retail sales of £27m. New appointments are Sara Alden-Court, formerly with Wyeth’s SMA Nutrition, who is the new head of sales at Organix. Ken formerly with Ryvita, takes on the role of head of finance, while Michelle Constantinou, who was at Bendicks, joins Organix as marketing manager. Minister Miliband urged to discuss GM with organic businesses A delegation representing 74 organic businesses, with a combined turnover of about £950,000,000 met shadow ministers at the House of Commons to express their grave concern at Government proposals to allow up to 0.9% GM in organic food without it being labelled. As a result of the hour and a half meeting with Peter Ainsworth MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, and Jim Paice MP, Shadow Agriculture Minister, Mr Ainsworth is now pressing his opposite number, Environment Secretary David Miliband, to also hold a meeting with a group representing the organic business community. Jim Paice has already authored a parliamentary early day motion, calling for foods containing more than 0.1% traces of GM to be labelled. Last autumn the Government completed their consultation on the coexistence between GM crops, non-GM crops and organic crops in England, having met representatives of GM companies but not any organic businesses. The Government's consultation document, drawing on opinions expressed by the European Commission (which are not binding on national governments) presupposes a GM content in all non-GM food, including organic food, of up to 0.9%. The Government says that organic and non-GM food containing up to 0.9% GM would not be labelled, leaving consumers in complete ignorance as to the GM content. The House of Commons meeting was organised by the Food and Drink Federation's Organic Group and the Soil Association. The companies involved included Abel & Cole, Aspalls, Community Foods, Dorset Cereals, Doves Farm, Fresh, Green & Blacks, Grove Fresh, OMSCo, Planet Organic, Rachel's Dairies, Rainbow Wholefoods, R B Organic, Riverford, Stonegate, Yeo Valley and W Jordan Cereals. Alex Smith of Alara, Chair of the Food and Drink Federation's Organic Group said, "There is overwhelming evidence that one of the main reasons that consumers buy organic is to avoid eating food containing any GM. If the proposals set out by the Government were implemented, very significant new economic burdens could be placed on organic food producers, manufacturers and retailers - the Government envisage allowing routine contamination of all non-GM and organic food chains with up to 0.9% GM. Organic businesses will face enhanced risks of GM contamination, product recall and loss of their most valuable asset, the consumer trust that underlies their brand value". British children top European bad eating habits league British children still have some of the worst eating habits in Europe, says a new report from Datamonitor. Rising childhood obesity rates and increased media coverage of unhealthy diets may have put healthy eating high on the shopping agenda for parents but their offspring are Europe’s biggest spenders on confectionery and fizzy drinks, and skip breakfast more often. “High profile media campaigns have managed to jolt many parents into taking more control over their children’s diets in recent years. However, the impact has been minimal as kids in the UK continue to top a number of unhealthy food consumption charts,” comments Nick Beevors, market analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report. British kids are also extremely prone to skipping the ‘most important meal of the day’, breakfast. Datamonitor predicts that British children aged 6-13 will skip almost 90 breakfasts a year on average, as many as 25% of all breakfasts. School and college aged consumers are also particularly prone to on-the-go snacking. Grabbing a quick snack during the walk home from school has never been easier or more tempting. The busy schedules of today’s working parents also have a knock-on effect on children’s consumption creating a need for “hold-me-over” afternoon snacks to compensate for later evening mealtimes,” comments Beevors. The organic future takes the stage at City Food Lecture The City of London’s Guildhall was packed with movers and shakers in the food industry for this year’s City Food Lecture on Food and values – the organic future, given by Peter Melchett, Policy Director of the Soil Association. “We’re at the beginning of major changes in our food culture which will, in turn, lead to profound changes in British farming,” Peter Melchett told the audience. Research has shown that people have a deep underlying unease about modern farming and food processing, he said. “People are suspicious because they feel that much of what is done in producing our food, their food, is done in secret, from the dark interior of the battery house through hidden or mysterious additives to misleading packaging. People aren’t stupid.” Over the past decade there’s been a huge shift in UK public policy on food and farming, he said. “The post-war policy of cheap and plentiful food has landed us with a cheap and unhealthy diet, and a crisis of obesity and ill health. “Real changes are taking place in our food culture, and these are increasingly reflected in the marketplace. While people still largely buy on price, they actually value the quality and taste of food above price. The rise in retail sales of organic have hit the headlines, but the growth in local and direct sales of organic food are more dramatic and may be more significant in the long run.” The lecture, sponsored by the Food Standards Agency, was followed by a panel discussion of experts: Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, London; Prue Leith, Chair of the School Food Trust; Sir Stuart Hampson, Chair of the John Lewis Partnership, which includes Waitrose, and Tim Smith Chief Executive of Arla Foods UK plc, the UK’s leading dairy processing company. Read the full speech and excerpts from the panel discussion at www.food.gov.uk EPoS emphasis at show Those wanting to find out more about Electronic Point of Sale technology are invited to get their places booked at the forthcoming Natural Trade Show. Retail Management Workshops are taking place at the Brighton Metropole during the show, where retailers are able to get an insight into the benefits of working with an EPoS system. Sponsored by CLF Distribution, the sessions are being presented by Emporio UK, which will be giving an interactive presentation on the Microsoft Retail Management System. One of the workshops is called Point of Sale in the Retail Environment, focusing on things such as selling and discounts while another is on the matter of Store Management, which will cover areas such as staff time sheets. Space is limited so get your place booked by calling Fiona Guy on 01725 550445 or email Fiona.guy@emporiouk.com Retailer registration With just weeks until the Natural Trade Show Brighton, retailers are being reminded to make sure they register in advance – so that they can reap the benefits. Pre-registering online at www.naturaltradeshow.com could not be easier and by doing so, you will be in line to receive a number of benefits. This will include the recordings of a selection of seminars taking place at the show being made available for download online. Registering in advance also saves you time at the door on the day, meaning you will get to spend more actually exploring the show. McKeith back at Brighton TV’s favourite diet guru will be imparting her knowledge to retailers when she appears at the Natural Trade Show Brighton in a few weeks. Gillian can be found in the demonstration kitchen from 1pm on the Sunday, where she and her team will be cooking up a number of tasty treats as well as offering retailers plenty of useful advice. * Hear more from Gillian in the March issue of Health Food Business magazine, where she takes time out to talk about her latest exciting projects.

Soil Association consult on air freight ban… and other options

The Soil Association Standard's Board is to consult on a range of options to tackle the environmental impact of airfreighting organic food. The organic organisation made the announcement on the eve of its annual conference in January.

The board will publish a consultation paper outlining options ranging from labelling produce and carbon offsetting to an outright ban on airfreighting. This outline document will lead to a formal recommendation given to the Soil Association’s elected council within 12 months.

"There is a strong demand, from the public and many of our licensees, to reduce food miles," said Soil Association director Patrick Holden, speaking from the conference in Cardiff. "Although there is very little airfreighting of organic produce, we believe there is an urgent and pressing need to make every contribution to curbing climate change that we can. This is a complex issue though: especially for producers in developing countries where it involves equity and ethical trading issues, and that's why we shall actively engage a wide-range of stakeholders to ensure we get it right."

Urgent call to action at One Planet conference

Soil Association director, Patrick Holden, has called for urgent, community-based, grassroots action to achieve a post-peak oil, and climate-friendly, food and farming future.

The Soil Association is entering a new and crucial phase of work- adapting to the constraints of diminishing oil and the need to cut climate change gas emissions by building lower energy and more resilient systems of food production and distribution, said Holden.

He described the organisation’s recent conference, 'One Planet Agriculture - preparing for a post-peak oil food and farming future', as the most important in the Soil Association’s 60 year history. It confirmed the vision of its founders in highlighting the unsustainability of the post-war shift to industrial farming, long before the term sustainability had been coined.

“But the scale and urgency of the challenge to get farming and food production globally onto a sustainable, climate-friendly footing is greater than those organic pioneers could have envisaged. Individual, grassroots action is at the heart of our conference agenda, neither the Soil Association, the public or the planet have the appetite or time for more political rhetoric,” said Holden.

New Organix Foundation founded with company profits

Lizzie Vann, the founder in 1992 of Organix, has set up a new charity, The Organix Foundation, funded with Organix profits. It is dedicated to delivering effective independent research into links between food quality and children’s health. Vann takes up the role of chairwoman of the company from February 1, while Anna Rosier, formerly in charge of the sales team, takes over as managing director.

Anna, who joined Organix in 2004, has formerly worked with Gillette and Coca Cola. Since joining Organix she has seen revenue grow by 74% and anticipates further fast growth as Organix fulfils its role as category innovator with the launch of 15 new foods this year. The company currently has sales growing at 35% per annum with annual retail sales of £27m.

New appointments are Sara Alden-Court, formerly with Wyeth’s SMA Nutrition, who is the new head of sales at Organix. Ken formerly with Ryvita, takes on the role of head of finance, while Michelle Constantinou, who was at Bendicks, joins Organix as marketing manager.

Minister Miliband urged to discuss GM with organic businesses

A delegation representing 74 organic businesses, with a combined turnover of about £950,000,000 met shadow ministers at the House of Commons to express their grave concern at Government proposals to allow up to 0.9% GM in organic food without it being labelled.

As a result of the hour and a half meeting with Peter Ainsworth MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, and Jim Paice MP, Shadow Agriculture Minister, Mr Ainsworth is now pressing his opposite number, Environment Secretary David Miliband, to also hold a meeting with a group representing the organic business community.

Jim Paice has already authored a parliamentary early day motion, calling for foods containing more than 0.1% traces of GM to be labelled.

Last autumn the Government completed their consultation on the coexistence between GM crops, non-GM crops and organic crops in England, having met representatives of GM companies but not any organic businesses. The Government's consultation document, drawing on opinions expressed by the European Commission (which are not binding on national governments) presupposes a GM content in all non-GM food, including organic food, of up to 0.9%. The Government says that organic and non-GM food containing up to 0.9% GM would not be labelled, leaving consumers in complete ignorance as to the GM content.

The House of Commons meeting was organised by the Food and Drink Federation's Organic Group and the Soil Association. The companies involved included Abel & Cole, Aspalls, Community Foods, Dorset Cereals, Doves Farm, Fresh, Green & Blacks, Grove Fresh, OMSCo, Planet Organic, Rachel's Dairies, Rainbow Wholefoods, R B Organic, Riverford, Stonegate, Yeo Valley and W Jordan Cereals.

Alex Smith of Alara, Chair of the Food and Drink Federation's Organic Group said, "There is overwhelming evidence that one of the main reasons that consumers buy organic is to avoid eating food containing any GM. If the proposals set out by the Government were implemented, very significant new economic burdens could be placed on organic food producers, manufacturers and retailers - the Government envisage allowing routine contamination of all non-GM and organic food chains with up to 0.9% GM. Organic businesses will face enhanced risks of GM contamination, product recall and loss of their most valuable asset, the consumer trust that underlies their brand value".

British children top European bad eating habits league

British children still have some of the worst eating habits in Europe, says a new report from Datamonitor. Rising childhood obesity rates and increased media coverage of unhealthy diets may have put healthy eating high on the shopping agenda for parents but their offspring are Europe’s biggest spenders on confectionery and fizzy drinks, and skip breakfast more often.

“High profile media campaigns have managed to jolt many parents into taking more control over their children’s diets in recent years. However, the impact has been minimal as kids in the UK continue to top a number of unhealthy food consumption charts,” comments Nick Beevors, market analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report.

British kids are also extremely prone to skipping the ‘most important meal of the day’, breakfast. Datamonitor predicts that British children aged 6-13 will skip almost 90 breakfasts a year on average, as many as 25% of all breakfasts. School and college aged consumers are also particularly prone to on-the-go snacking. Grabbing a quick snack during the walk home from school has never been easier or more tempting. The busy schedules of today’s working parents also have a knock-on effect on children’s consumption creating a need for “hold-me-over” afternoon snacks to compensate for later evening mealtimes,” comments Beevors.

The organic future takes the stage at City Food Lecture

The City of London’s Guildhall was packed with movers and shakers in the food industry for this year’s City Food Lecture on Food and values – the organic future, given by Peter Melchett, Policy Director of the Soil Association. “We’re at the beginning of major changes in our food culture which will, in turn, lead to profound changes in British farming,” Peter Melchett told the audience.

Research has shown that people have a deep underlying unease about modern farming and food processing, he said. “People are suspicious because they feel that much of what is done in producing our food, their food, is done in secret, from the dark interior of the battery house through hidden or mysterious additives to misleading packaging. People aren’t stupid.”

Over the past decade there’s been a huge shift in UK public policy on food and farming, he said. “The post-war policy of cheap and plentiful food has landed us with a cheap and unhealthy diet, and a crisis of obesity and ill health.

“Real changes are taking place in our food culture, and these are increasingly reflected in the marketplace. While people still largely buy on price, they actually value the quality and taste of food above price. The rise in retail sales of organic have hit the headlines, but the growth in local and direct sales of organic food are more dramatic and may be more significant in the long run.”

The lecture, sponsored by the Food Standards Agency, was followed by a panel discussion of experts: Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, London; Prue Leith, Chair of the School Food Trust; Sir Stuart Hampson, Chair of the John Lewis Partnership, which includes Waitrose, and Tim Smith Chief Executive of Arla Foods UK plc, the UK’s leading dairy processing company.

Read the full speech and excerpts from the panel discussion at www.food.gov.uk

EPoS emphasis at show

Those wanting to find out more about Electronic Point of Sale technology are invited to get their places booked at the forthcoming Natural Trade Show.
Retail Management Workshops are taking place at the Brighton Metropole during the show, where retailers are able to get an insight into the benefits of working with an EPoS system.

Sponsored by CLF Distribution, the sessions are being presented by Emporio UK, which will be giving an interactive presentation on the Microsoft Retail Management System.

One of the workshops is called Point of Sale in the Retail Environment, focusing on things such as selling and discounts while another is on the matter of Store Management, which will cover areas such as staff time sheets.

Space is limited so get your place booked by calling Fiona Guy on 01725 550445 or email Fiona.guy@emporiouk.com

Retailer registration

With just weeks until the Natural Trade Show Brighton, retailers are being reminded to make sure they register in advance – so that they can reap the benefits.

Pre-registering online at www.naturaltradeshow.com could not be easier and by doing so, you will be in line to receive a number of benefits.

This will include the recordings of a selection of seminars taking place at the show being made available for download online.

Registering in advance also saves you time at the door on the day, meaning you will get to spend more actually exploring the show.

McKeith back at Brighton

TV’s favourite diet guru will be imparting her knowledge to retailers when she appears at the Natural Trade Show Brighton in a few weeks.

Gillian can be found in the demonstration kitchen from 1pm on the Sunday, where she and her team will be cooking up a number of tasty treats as well as offering retailers plenty of useful advice.

* Hear more from Gillian in the March issue of Health Food Business magazine, where she takes time out to talk about her latest exciting projects.