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Asia
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05/04/08 |
The Philippines:
Tropical Traditions Launches Raw Coconut Vinegar |
The Philippine company Tropical Traditions
has announced that it has
added Organic Raw Coconut Water Vinegar to its
product line. Dubbed as the first
product of its kind, it is a vinegar
that is made from organic
coconut water.
Water from the inside of coconuts is highly valued due to its high
concentration of nutrients. In the Philippines and other tropical
places, raw coconut water is often left in the open air to ferment,
where it eventually turns into vinegar. The acidic environment prevents
the growth of undesirable bacteria naturally.
Tropical Traditions has worked with professors
at the University of the Philippines for several years to develop an
incubation system that could produce clean coconut water vinegar from
their certified organic coconuts and retain the mother of vinegar (a
colony of bacteria cultures) as a truly raw product. The mother of
vinegar is used to inoculate future batches of organic coconut water
vinegar.
Unlike commercial distilled vinegars that are produced with white
refined sugar, Tropical Traditions Coconut Water uses only certified
organic Muscabado whole cane sugar in the fermentation of their vinegar,
grown by a cooperative of small-scale family farmers in the Philippines.
The sugar is also Fair Trade certified. Muscabado sugar is a whole sugar
that is extracted from the sugar cane using traditional methods. It
contains all the natural nutrients found in raw sugar cane or molasses.
Source: Healthcare Mergers, Acquisitions &
Ventures Week
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26/03/08 |
Thailand: Certification to Boost Organic Shrimp
Exports |
The establishment
of an organic certification body has moved Thailand a step closer to
becoming one of the world's leading production and exporting countries
for premium-grade shrimp.
Officially have opened the
Organic Agricultural and Farm Products Certification Office,
at the Fisheries Department. It will be
the national body to accredit organic farm products for export. It
operates under the criteria outlined by the International Federation of
Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).
Although Thailand is already the world's largest shrimp exporter,
the volume of organic shipments remain
insignificant to serve the global market.
A pilot farm, Sureerath Farm in Chanthaburi, has proved a
success. It has produced organic black tiger prawns for export to
Switzerland and Germany that could fetch prices about 30 percent higher
than for normal shrimp.
The success prompted the Fisheries Department
to encourage more farmers to apply organic methods. Now there are five
groups that are ready to produce more than 1,000
tonnes of shrimp per year. The first groups
have already received organic certifications from the department and
would be subject to an annual review to maintain the standards.
Prayoon Hongrat, the president of Sureerath Farm, said raising
premium-grade shrimp would not only catapult Thai shrimp ahead of the
competition from rival exporting countries but also follow the global
trend where chemical-free products are increasingly popular.
"There are a large number of organic grocery shops in Switzerland and
Germany, reflecting strong health consciousness among consumers," Mr
Prayoon said.
His Sureerath farm is Thailand's first organic shrimp farm to receive
the Naturland certificate, which is widely accepted in European
countries. This year, he plans to ship about
60 tonnes of the shrimp to Switzerland and Germany and the volume would
increase to 100 tonnes next year.
According to Mr Prayoon, higher production costs and lengthy farming
processes are the major obstacles deterring farmers from raising organic
shrimp. He said the requirements resulted in
lengthy breeding seasons, up to six or seven months each, compared with
three or four months for normal output. However, the much more
attractive prices could be a big draw, encouraging nearly 20 farmers to
join his group, which aims to harvest about 500 tonnes of organic black
tiger shrimp in the next five years.
Source: Bangkok Post
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12/03/08 |
India: Popeye Soya Drink Introduced by Ruchi |
Companies like Amul, Nestle and Dabur are
wooing health conscious consumers with products such as calci-milk,
probiotic dahi etc. Joining them in the race would be Popeye the sailor
man, to urge youngsters to switch to N'rich, a protein drink launched by
Ruchi Soya.
Popeye would be the brand mascot for N'rich. Ruchi Soya is well-known
for its main brand, Nutrela. Sarvesh Shahra from
RSIL quotes, "Ruchi Soya has a 'royalty
agreement' with King Features of the US for the exclusive use of Popeye
in the category N'rich is in."
N'rich is a ready to drink protein beverage, developed in-house by Ruchi
Soya.
"We are looking to get a 5% market share in
the first year and 10% by the end of the
second year," said Shahra. The organised market for packaged branded
juices and nectars is estimated at Rs 2,250 crore. The company is likely
to launch more products in the functional beverages and foods segment.
Two weeks ago, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited (RSIL)
entered into a seven-year exclusive technology licence with NutriJoy Inc
of Kansas, USA for its patented functional beverages and snack foods
technology. Besides India, the licence will cover China, Australia most
SAARC and ASEAN countries.
Source: The Hindustan Times
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