Press Release Koelnmesse
No. 1 / Cologne, March 2006
2nd Organic Trade Forum in September in Cologne
Organic products: How they move from farms to store shelves
· 2nd Organic Trade Forum with accompanying exhibition
· Federal Minister Seehofer will be new patron
· CMA presents "Selly" prize
"Organic food: from farms to store shelves" - this is the title of the 2nd Organic Trade Forum, which will be held from 11th to 12th September 2006 in Cologne. The two-day event will give experts from the trade and industry an opportunity to engage in in-depth discussion of marketing and sales strategies for organic products and to establish new, promising contacts with organic producers. Following its successful premiere in the autumn of 2004, the conference is being held for the second time in Cologne and will be complemented by a special exhibition. It satisfies the demand for information and dialogue in years when Anuga is not scheduled. The aim of the event is to inform the traditional and specialised trade about the potential of organic products, their sales channels and marketing concepts. The 2nd Organic Trade Forum will also provide opportunities for visitors to engage in face-to-face discussions with experts and suppliers of organic food products. Many companies have already announced their plans to take part in the exhibition accompanying the forum.
The 2nd Organic Trade Forum is being organised by Koelnmesse in cooperation with the bioPress Verlag of Eschelbronn, Germany. Horst Seehofer, Germany's Federal Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, will be the new patron of the event. And in 2006 the German Agricultural Marketing Board
(CMA) will once again be demonstrating its commitment by presenting the "Selly" prize honouring the best sales concepts for organic products in the retail food trade and the natural foods trade. Other partners of the 2nd Organic Trade Forum are the Federal Association of the German Food Industry (BVE) and the Federal Association of the German Retail Grocery Trade (BVL).
The themes of the conference programme have been developed to precisely correspond to the interests of target group participants. In addition to an overview of the German market, international trends, for example in Europe and the United States, will also play an important role. Analyses, market research reports and successful concepts for marketing organic products will show the wealth of potential and opportunities in this area. This approach includes a very broad spectrum of sales models - from independent retailers and state-owned enterprises to self-service warehouse stores and discounters, right through to organic supermarkets and chemist chain stores.
The various sales models will be complemented by an array of product line concepts. In addition to organic brands and secondary organic market brands, suppliers of brand name products are also using the organic range and system suppliers to develop the growing organic market. The conference will provide information and insights into these developments. The conference programme will also address regional marketing and fair trade in organic products.
The speakers and panel participants include many recognised organic food experts from the trade, industry and market research, including Thomas Dosch, Bioland, Winfried Fuchshofen, Organic Insight, USA; Prof. Franz-Theo Gottwald, head of the Schweisfurth Foundation, Germany; Carol Haest, IFOAM Trade Forum and organic food consultant at Delhaize in Belgium; Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hamm, professor for agro and food marketing at the University of Kassel, Michael Kahn, Director of International Marketing at United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), USA; and Christoph Soika, a renowned organic sector consultant for the trade and industry.
Hosting the programme will be Prof. Roland Mattmüller, chair of Strategic Marketing at the European Business School and head of the Institute for Marketing Management and Research (IMMF). The opening presentation by Professor Anton Meyer will address customer behaviour and expectations for the future of organic marketing. Prof. Meyer is the initiator of the "German customer barometer". As a specialist in strategic trade management, he regularly gives presentations at the Unilever Bestfoods Trend Forum. Prof. Meyer is the chair of the Institute for Marketing at the University of Munich.
The complete conference programme will be published soon. Interested parties will be able to request it by fax on +49 (0)221 821-3410.
Those interested in learning more about exhibitions and sponsoring should contact:
Matthias Schlüter, Project Management
Tel.: +49 (0)221 821-3305
e-mail: m.schlueter@koelnmesse.de
Further information is available at: www.biohandelsforum.de
bioPress Verlag
Schulstr. 10, 74927 Eschelbronn
Tel. +49 (0)6226-4351, Fax -40047
eMail: em@biopress.de
Internet: www.biopress.de
