Brazilians are joining the organic train trend with a vengeance

Brazil has been present in international organic fairs while holding its own fairs at home

The organic sector in Brazil is not only keeping pace with the general economy, which has been the envy of the world lately, but accelerating its rhythm. In 2012, the sale of organic products is expected to grow 20% just to provide for the domestic market since exports should stay about the same in comparison to the last year. The organic market in Brazil sold more than half a billion reais in 2011 (US$ 290 million).

Ming Liu, the executive coordinator of the Project Organics Brazil, is very optimistic about the Brazilian organic market. He would like to see more exports though and acknowledges that the production is not keeping up with the demand growth overseas. The appreciation of the real vis-à-vis the dollar, however, also makes it more difficult to get the product into the international market.

Liu notes that increasingly Brazilian consumers are turning to organic products. Price considerations are still important for many, but more and more people are also weighing the benefits of the product for their own health and some are equally worried about the health of whole planet.

The Organics Brazil executive credit this new ecological conscience to “word-of-mouth.’ He says that most Brazilians still do not know what organic is but they are hearing about it from friends and family members and are willing to give it a try.

The organic movement in Brazil also owes to a new organic law, which is in place since January of last year. The federal legislation has created mechanisms that allow regulation and the establishment of public policies in the area. Organic products now to be able to call themselves organic must be certified by a company or institution accredited by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture.

“This encourages large companies to enter the sector. They get the assurance of a more controlled environment, which offers less risk,” says Liu.

Since the law also makes it harder for people in the organic industry to obtain certified products from overseas, Brazilian producers start to rely more in the domestic market, which in turn gets the incentive to increase its quality and production.

“To import pasta, for example, you must have an organic certification from the wheat until the end of the chain. which is very hard to get.”

While in 2005 only five companies participated in the Project Organics Brazil, all from the food sector, today this number has increased to 74 from a variety of categories including cosmetics, beverages, and textiles.

Brazil can already be considered a powerhouse in organics although when compared to a country like the United States it’s still a decade behind, as Liu points out.

There is plenty of room for growth in the organic world for Brazil. What the country needs is organization. As Liu puts it, “Brazil is organic by nature. The only thing we need is for the small producers to change their mentality so they become entrepreneurs.”

Sustainable fashion to Germany

Between February 15 and 18, the Talents of Brazil program will be participating for the first time in the space devoted to sustainable fashion at BioFach Nuremberg, in Germany. the world’s largest fair dedicated to organics with more than 2,600 exhibitors and 45,000 visitors from 130 countries.

Fibers from tururi, babassu and buriti, all plants from the Amazon rainforest, plus other Amazonian products like vines, seeds, organic cotton, wool, and horsehair are a few of the material that will be introduced to the BioFach’s visitors.

Brazil is taking a sample of 150 products from 18 women’s groups organized by the Artisans’ Unified Central Cooperative (Cooperúnica), representing 16 states of Brazil’s 26 states.

The main goal of the Brazilian participation in the fair is to show in Europe genuinely native products and the Brazilian sustainable fashion and present the country’s diversity of family agriculture products.

The Talents of Brazil program was created in 2005 to showcase the talent of family artisans using typically Brazilian raw material. It also encourages the exchange of knowledge, generating employment and income.

Nationally and internationally renowned stylists and designers are also part of the project. The program counts today on 2,000 artisans and over 2,000 products.

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