Study trip: BioFach Nuremberg

In February 2020 – just before the pandemic – I visited BioFach in Nuremberg, the world’s largest trade fair for organic food. I went for the rosehip and herb market: I was looking for buyers and raw-material purchasers, and I looked at the finished products to see what organic raw material becomes on the shelf.

Organic comes with a brand

What stuck with me most: in Western Europe organic is not just a logo in the corner of the pack. Brands build a whole presentation around it – origin, processing, the ingredient list – and use it to show why the product is worth more. Above one stand it read: “unsere beste Werbung ist unsere Zutatenliste” – our best advertising is our ingredient list.

In Hungary: on the same shelf

In Hungary, organic products usually sit on the same shelf as conventional ones, and their added value isn’t shown anywhere – neither on the packaging nor in communication. Shoppers see the price difference, not what they get for it. This is where Hungarian organic falls behind: not in growing, but in selling.

What can be brought home

• Organic certification alone is not a selling point – you have to say what it means.
• Western buyers look for raw material that lets them tell their own brand story: origin and traceability are value too.
• If you bring your own product to market, plan its presentation together with growing it.

Do you grow organic raw material and wonder where and how to sell it? That’s part of my consulting too.