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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
 

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
 

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