Natural Products Scandinavia & the Nordic Organic Food Fair celebrated its biggest showcase of everything natural and organic last week at MalmöMässan in Sweden. Winning rave reviews from the industry, the show welcomed 4724 attendees from across the world.
Representatives from over 2000 companies (from 60 countries) packed the aisles over the two days, on 15-16 November. They were there to meet a record 480 exhibiting companies showcasing the next-wave of new natural and organic food and drink, health, beauty, eco-living and self-care products. Notably, the show attracted more retailers (+5%), and distributors (+7%) than in 2016.
Event director Fiona Allen is thrilled with the show, and the number of big name buyers who attended over the two days, and highlights that many exhibitors reported significant business deals across the show floor: “There was so much passion and enthusiasm across the show this year, as always, special thanks must go to our exhibiting companies for helping to make the show look so spectacular, our association and media partners for their continued invaluable support, and the visitors who came out in their thousands,” says Allen.
With so many innovative products from a record number of exhibitors, it’s clear this region continues to lead the way in health and wellness for the rest of the world, with many of our visitors stating they visit our show to be among the first to spot the ‘hottest trends’. It’s fantastic to see how the show has grown into one of the leading events for natural and organic in the world.”
An ‘inspiring and innovative’ show
As in previous years, the majority of visitors to the show were Swedish and Danish (60%), with key buyers and managers from many of Scandinavia’s biggest retailers, health stores, pharmacy chains, wholesalers and distributors, public kitchens, and supermarkets in attendance.
Among them were: 7-Eleven, IKEA, Life Everkost, Netto, H&M, Åhléns, Axfood, Bergendahls, Catering Danmark, Coop Danmark, Coop Sverige, Dagsmeja, Dansk Supermarked, Everfresh, Hälsokraft, Haugen Gruppen, HKC Egenvård, Holland and Barrett, ICA Sverige, lush Butik, Martin & Servera, Menigo Group Sweden, Midsona, naturligtsnygg, Organic Beauty/M.Åsmundhavn AB, Orkla Food Sverige, Paradiset, Reitan Convenience, Rekogruppen Sverige AB, Renée Voltaire, Roskilde Festival, Ruohonjuuri Oy, Saltå Kvarn, Tree of Brands, Unilever Food Solutions, Valio, V-Sell Ekologiska Produkter, Yves Rocher, Magasin du Nord, Happy Food Store, and Matas DK.
“It was my first time at the show this year and it’s been really great – a lot bigger than I imagined. There’s such a wide variety of exhibitors here – most are new innovative products on the market that you can’t see anywhere else. It’s beneficial to use the show to set up face to face meetings with key brands over the two days, you get so much done!” Ingela Nielsen Weberg, production planner at Caldic Ingredients Sweden AB.
“The show is such an interesting experience for this sector. It’s the place to see all the current exhibitors that are making waves in the industry. Natural skincare is the way forward and these beauty brands are reinforcing that message. You can keep on top of the trends here, it’s beneficial for anyone working in the sector to come. In two words, I describe it as inspiring and innovative,” says Glendean Rehvan, skincare director at Intrend.
“If you need insights into what moves and trends in the organic industry, the Nordic Organic Food Fair and Natural Products Scandinavia is a show you do not want to miss!” says Ole K Henriksen, owner of Your Nuts.dk.
‘Key decision makers’ and ‘quality buyers’
Other headline figures included a record onsite rebook, which saw 25% of floorspace confirmed at the next edition before doors had even closed. Many have hailed the 2017 event as a significant and overwhelming success – praising the show for its quality contacts and buyers.
Commenting on their exhibiting experience, Aparajit Parthasarathy, co-founder and director of F&F beverages says: “The Nordic Organic Food Fair was a fantastic opportunity for us to meet with quality people from across Nordic region. The discussions we had were invaluable and gave us a great opportunity to launch our new product and brand to the market. The visitors here are key decision makers – including CEOs and senior managers – the kind of people we want to meet. It’s the best natural and organic show in the Nordic region today.”
“Since we didn’t know any distributors in Scandinavia before the show, we didn’t really know what to expect. Fortunately, we met many quality buyers from all the Nordic countries, and now have a good basis to enter the market,” says Christian Fenner, co-founder and managing director of Nu Organics.
“We and our exhibitors are very pleased with the fair. The Nordic Organic Food Fair is a good forum for meeting the organic sector, such as other organisations and partners from the industry and we had many valuable meetings. We hope to inspire and assist KRAV-certified companies in their ambitions to export and the show is the natural first step that we recommend,” says Cecilia Lenbäck, acting sales manager at KRAV.
“This has been the best trade show ever. From our experience, we recommend this trade show to everyone in the industry,” says Johanna Lindskoug and Cecilia Nilsson, founders of Bruns Products.
- Success of distribution of the Bio Eco Actual Special Edition for the show!
The ‘rise in veganism’
The show’s three theatres – featuring 50 expert speakers, 17 brands, 4 Beauty Hours, and 5 case studies in the new Food Waste conference – saw many sessions draw in standing room only crowds. Many of the natural and organic pioneers who took to the stage focused on key trends and future opportunities for the industry – sharing supportive stories and ideas on how to succeed in the market.
One of the show’s most popular sessions was ‘Global trends in natural & organic,’ delivered by Jim Manson, editor-in-chief of naturalproductsglobal.com. Using recent articles and commentaries published on Diversified UK’s new global web portal naturalproductsglobal.com, Manson discussed current major retail trends in key products categories from around the world.
As well as a strong performance from organic, Manson highlighted a worldwide surge in sales of vegan products, noting that veganism is now claimed to be “the biggest movement of the 21st century”.
‘Part-time vegans and flexitarians’ were also a top trend of 2017 reported by Euromonitor International. This was reflected by the large proportion of innovative plant-based alternatives, dairy-replacements, meat-substitutes, and vegan certified products across the show floor.
Other hot topics across the theatres included: sustainable development, ‘fake-food’, eco-packaging, agriculture paradigms, organic policy, wellness and self-care trends, certification and labelling, the future of natural and organic cosmetics, allergy, holistic health, and food waste.
Natural & Organic Awards Scandinavia 2017
Featuring new launches from the last twelve months, the show’s Natural & Organic Awards Showcase boasted a record 155 products for 2017. The eleven ‘Best new product’ winners (as voted for by visiting buyers), the Butikstrender Most Unique Product Award, Foxpak’s Most Innovative Food Packaging Award, and the two prestigious ‘Outstanding Achievement’ awards were announced in the Organic Theatre at the close of opening day.
The 2017 winners include:
- Best New Eco/Natural Living Product – Ecogenic: Ecogenic Sports Laundry Detergent
- Best New Health & Nutrition Product – WellAware: Beet Up Work Out Energy Bar
- Best New Natural Beauty Product (cosmetics, haircare, beauty supplement) – Bruns Products: Shampoo N°04
- Best New Natural Drink Product – Soof Drinks: Movers & Shakers
- Best New Natural Food Product – Supreme Greek Taste: Rose Honey
- Best New Natural Skincare Product (face & body) – Organic Shop: Repairing Body Cream Banana Milk
- Best New Natural Special Diet Food Product (vegetarian, vegan, free-from) – Pookspafoods Gmbh: Pook Coconut Chips
- Best New Organic Drink/Beverage Product – Belorganic: Absolutely Wild Organic Birch Water
- Best New Organic Food Product – Nu Organics: Nucao
- Best New Organic Special Diet Food Product (vegetarian, vegan, free-from) – Food Young Operations SA: ZAZ Crush Cacao
- Best New Organic Non-Food Product – Bruns Products: Hair Souffle Number 14
- Most Unique Product, sponsored by Butikstrender – Innate Drinks: Innate Organic Infused Water
- The Most Innovative Food Packaging Award, sponsored by Foxpak – Andean Sol: Chia Seeds and Quinoa Packaging
The show’s ‘Natural Outstanding Achievement Award’ went to Johannes Cullberg, CEO and founder of Paradiset, for his impact in the natural and organic industry as an entrepreneur with a strong drive and a passion for health-related business.
“I’m very grateful and happy to have won this award. It came as a total surprise but made my day! The fair was even better. Maybe the best ever, which is a good sign for the future. I’m already looking forward to next year’s show,” says Cullberg.
The ‘Organic Outstanding Achievement Award’ went to Charlotte Bladh André, CEO for Organic Sweden, for her work with the organic industry in Sweden helping to promote a greater commitment to organic production and consumption.
“This award is a fantastic recognition for Organic Sweden as an industry association. We started three years ago and have over a very short time, become an organisation who gather companies and associations from across the food industry, all working towards making Sweden more organic. This excellent award gives both me and Organic Sweden energy – strengthening our role as an ambassador and coordinator for the organic food industry,” says André.
For further details about the winners and runners up, please visit www.naturalproductsscandinavia.com/natural-organic-awards-scandinavia-winners-announced.
Save the date for 2018
Natural Products Scandinavia and the Nordic Organic Food Fair will return to Malmö in Sweden on 14-15 November 2018. For further information, please visit: www.naturalproductsscandinavia.com or www.nordicorganicexpo.com.
Bio Eco Actual, International Organic Newspaper
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