within the fastes growth industry in Australia
Australian Certified Organic (ACO) will present a workshop in
value-adding on Thursday, April 22. ACO Managing Director Akiko Nicholls says that
the day will provide information invaluable for both currently certified operators and
those with an interest in organics. “The workshop will provide important information on
innovations in preserving foods and cosmetic products for meeting safety and organic
standards, national and international,” Ms Nicholls said. As one of the fastest growth
sectors in the agricultural industry, research group IBISWorld has recently forecast that
the organic industry will have the fastest growth across all industries in
only to the sugar industry.
Standards Convenor for ACO’s parent company the Biological Farmers of Australia, Dr Andrew
Monk, says there is still a need for more players to fill the gaps on retail shelves providing
organic alternatives to conventional foods. “The demand for Australian organic processed products
in many cases exceeds supply which currently is leading to a significant number of imported
products entering the market,” Dr Monk said. As a result there is the opportunity for Australian
businesses to enter this space however operators are advised to do their market research into their
sector of the market before investing. “The same demand is being seen overseas which has
led to Australian organic processed products becoming the sector with the largest amount
of exported goods, exceeding the volume of organic beef and wine exports,” he said. “Consumers
are looking for healthy, convenient organic alternatives to the foods they eat every day.”
According to BFA, food labelling is not<