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North America
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07/01/10 |
USA: New York Summit Hones in on Sustainable
Beauty issues |
With sustainability coming to the
forefront, a new summit aims to make the
beauty industry more sustainable by focusing on practical initiatives.
Taking place in New York City on March 24–26, 2010, the
Sustainable Cosmetics Summit aims to bring together key
organizations in the beauty industry to debate and discuss
sustainability in a high-level forum. The new summit focuses on key
industry issues such as ethical ingredient sourcing, green marketing,
ecological packaging, sustainable partnerships, eco-labels, green
formulations and financing issues. The three-day summit comprises a
two-day conference program preceded by two interactive workshops.
Horst Rechelbacher, founder of Aveda and Intelligent Nutrients, will
once again open this summit with his opening keynote ‘Inconvenient
Truths for the Beauty Industry’. Mike Indursky, Chief Marketing &
Strategy Officer of Burt’s Bees, will show how sustainability can be
integrated into a company’s business ethos. Other papers in the
Sustainability Pathways session will look at practical approaches to
reduce the environmental impact of cosmetic products.
Although there has been much anticipation of natural and organic
cosmetic standards, few have had an impact in North America. The second
session of the summit focuses on eco-labels and regulatory developments,
with an update on leading initiatives in North America and Europe.
Leading certification European agencies will provide details of the
Cosmos standard and NaTrue initiative. A major U.S. retailer will
provide viewpoints on eco-labels and standards. The session ends with a
panel discussion that discusses if eco-labels are the answer to greater
consumer assurance.
Day two of the conference focuses on ethical marketing. With many beauty
companies accused of greenwashing and others struggling to communicate
sustainable values, this session looks at marketing best-practices.
Topics will cover green marketing challenges, sustainable brand
development, potential of social media,
ethical retailing innovations and consumer
behavior toward natural personal care products. CEOs of leading natural
cosmetic firms such as Jurlique, Weleda and
Kiss My Face comprise the panel that will discuss how sustainability can
give a competitive advantage.
The final session of the conference program covers two of the critical
issues companies face with natural cosmetics: investments and green
formulations. A large number of small-medium size companies characterize
the natural cosmetics industry, with many seeking financing for business
growth. A leading investment firm will discuss
the financing and investment options available to beauty companies,
highlighting the sources, advantages and disadvantages of each. The
second break-off session looks at how some of the major technical
hurdles to formulating natural cosmetics can be overcome.
The conference is preceded by two interactive workshops conducted by
Organic Monitor. Judi Beerling, head of technical research, will
undertake a detailed analysis and comparative assessment of natural and
organic cosmetic standards. A critical review is undertaken of all
leading standards in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other
regions. The second workshop on March 24 will assess business
opportunities in the global market for natural and organic cosmetics.
Although global sales are increasing by more than $1 billion a year,
Organic Monitor finds few new entrants have realized business
opportunities. The workshop analyzes the global natural and organic
cosmetics market, highlighting the major trends and developments and
identifies growth openings.
About the Summit
Organized by Organic Monitor, the aim
of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit is to
encourage sustainability in the beauty industry by
debating key issues concerning
sustainability, natural, organic, fair trade and ecological products.
The North American edition of the summit will take place at Grand Hyatt
hotel, New York on 24-26th March 2010.
More details is available
from
www.sustainablecosmeticssummit.com
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07/01/10 |
USA:
Certification of NSF Organic Beauty Products Begins |
Certification for the
NSF/ANSI 305 standard for organic personal care and beauty
products has begun. The ‘Contains Organic
Ingredients’ seal gives manufacturers an alternative to the USDA’s
organic seal which is applicable only to products that are made up of
agricultural ingredients and demands 95 percent organic ingredients.
NSF/ANSI 305 has been in development for some time and its official
launch follows the successful testing of the standard and certification
process on a handful of manufacturers.
“We had to run some products through the system to make sure it was
working properly, so there are in fact a few products already on the
market carrying the NSF seal,” said Joe
Smillie, senior vice president of QAI, an
organic certifier which certifies to NSF/ANSI 305.
This testing period was successful, according to Smillie, and now the
standard is open to certification applications.
Hopeful applicants can expect approximately 2 months processing time,
from the submission of a full and completed application form; although,
the process in total can take up to three months depending on how many
modifications need to be made to the application.
NSF/ANSI 305 joins a number of other personal care and beauty standards
available on the international marketplace.
Research by Organic Monitor
finds that BDIH and Ecocert have the highest take-up
rates in Europe, whereas NaTrue and the Soil Association have widespread
recognition but lower uptake rates.
In the US, the Natural Products Association offers a natural
standard for personal care products, and the USDA offers an organic
standard for personal care products based on agricultural products.
However, these
standards are by no means national entities and some have significant
standing and recognition outside their geographical regions.
Nevertheless, Organic Monitor believes there are significant
differences between the markets, notably in certification take-up rates.
In contrast to Europe, where the business
research company suggests approximately two-thirds
of organic and natural products have some form of certification, only 5
percent are certified in the US.
Sustainable Cosmetics
Summit
Natural & organic cosmetic standards will be featured
in the upcoming Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, taking place
in New York on
24-26th
March 2010. A dedicated workshop will compare and contrast the major
standards, looking at the major technical issues involved in adoption.
The summit will also bring together the leading certification
agencies in North America and Europe to give an update on their
respective standards and enable cosmetic companies & ingredient
suppliers to make key decisions on the certification route.
More
details
Source:
Cosmetics Design / Organic Monitor
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29/12/09 |
USA:
Large Rise in Organic
Cotton Acreage |
American
producers increased their plantings of organic cotton by 26
percent in 2009, according to preliminary data collected by the
Organic Trade Association.
Analysis of available data collected by an OTA survey of U.S.
organic cotton producers and preliminary data from the Texas
Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative put planted area at 10,731
acres in 2009, up from an estimated 8,539 acres in 2008.
The 2009 plantings are the highest since 2001, when 11,586 acres
of organic cotton were planted by U.S. cotton growers. (U.S.
producers planted 9.14 million acres of upland and Pima cotton
conventionally in 2009, according to USDA.)
Harvested acreage figures for 2009 are not yet available.
However, estimates show that this could be as much as 9,555
acres, up from 7,289 acres harvested in 2008.
Harvested organic cotton area in 2008 yielded 7,026 bales, of
which 6,466 bales were upland cotton and 560 bales were Pima
cotton. This yield was significantly less than the 14,025 bales
of organic cotton harvested from 8,510 acres
in 2007. These yield differences reflected the
extremely difficult weather conditions,
including wind, hail and drought, in 2008 in contrast to excellent
growing conditions in 2007.
Other survey findings revealed that the average price per pound
farmers received for organic cotton in 2008 decreased from the
previous year and ranged from 52 cents to $1.35 for organic
upland cotton in 2008, compared to $1 to $1.50
in 2007. Organic Pima cotton prices ranged
from $1.05 to $3 in 2007, compared to $1.75 in
2008.
When asked what their greatest barriers are to planting more
cotton in 2010, growers cited finding a market for their cotton,
finding a market that will pay value-added costs of organic
products, production challenges such as weeds and insects, weed
control, and labor costs. Growers also cited competition from
international organic cotton producers as well as the cost of
transition to organic.
To enhance their ability to market organic cotton, survey
participants suggested that the National Organic Program continue
to allow organic growers to use acid-delinted cotton seed for
planting and cited the need for greater enforcement for foreign
certifications. Growers also said they needed further promotion
geared toward organic products and greater consumer demand.
Upcoming
Report:
#1001-80 The European Market for Ethical Textiles
Source: Delta Farm
Press
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