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Vietnam's capital city authorities have just ratified organic vegetable development draft with total investment of VND900 billion (USD 51 million) in the 2009-2015 period, local media reported.

The city will expand its total organic vegetable area to 5,000-5,500 hectares by 2015, with 118 concentrated areas.

The city will provide both technical and financial assistances to organizations and individuals growing the vegetable.

Hanoi now has 11,000 hectares under vegetable cultivation, but only 2,000 hectares of them are organic.

Source: Vietnam News Briefs
 

Emerald Dairy, a leading producer and distributor of infant and children's formula, milk powder and soybean products in China, has announced that it is developing organic milk products.

In February 2008, Emerald Dairy obtained organic label certification from Guangdong Zhongjian Certification Co., Ltd. The Company plans to launch an organic line this year.

The company states there are currently no organic milk powder products in the mainland Chinese market. Although sales of organic milk powder are initially expected to be minor, the company believes over the long term, organic milk products will be very popular in China, similar to the growth of the organic milk market in North America.

Organic Monitor Comment
Emerald Dairy is taking a bold step by developing organic milk products . Unlike North America, there is a limited market for organic food products in China. The company will not only be producing organic milk products, it will be creating a market for these products. If successful however, Emerald Dairy, could become the leading producers of organic milk products in Asia.

Source: Press Release / Organic Monitor
 

One company’s misfortune is another’s profit: That was the lesson as a panic over cosmetics contaminated with asbestos drove sales of foreign organic cosmetics through the roof. The scare began when the carcinogenic mineral was found in talc used in cosmetics and baby powder.

In response, Lotte Department Store said sales of organic cosmetics from April 1 to 6 increased 137 percent on last year.

But which foreign brands are riding the wave? It turns out most worried consumers bought Estee Lauder’s Origins brand, which offers skin care products certified as organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said a spokesperson at Lotte Department Store in Seoul.

Big sellers included Origins’ organic toner, lotion, body lotion, deodorant and body powder. At Shinsegae Department Store, Lotte’s main competitor, organic cosmetics including Kiehl’s Fresh, Aveda and L’Occitane, also increased in sales over the month’s first six days.

Shoppers are also heading online to buy organic. Sales of 15 organic cosmetics brands, such as The Body Shop and Urban Spoon, at AK Mall, an online shopping site operated by Aekyung Group, rose 10 times year-on-year over the same period.

Organic Monitor Comment
The surge in sales of natural & organic beauty products in South Korea comes as no surprise. Such products are becoming increasingly popular across the globe as consumers become more aware of the possible harmful effects of synthetic ingredients in conventional cosmetics & toiletries. A major challenge Asian companies face is how to develop and formulate chemically-clean cosmetics.

Organic Monitor is conducting a series of workshops and seminars on formulating natural & organic cosmetics. The next workshop will be held in London, July 8th. Further dates are proposed in Asia later in the year. For more details, please contact us

Source: Joon Ang Daily / Organic Monitor