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Oceania
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17/01/10 |
Australia: Fairtrade Products Sales Soar |
Underwear is the latest in a string of new products on the
Australian Fairtrade market and one of the
fastest growing in the world, with sales up 80 per cent last year to
Aus $23 million.
More than 90 percent of those sales are coffee, tea and chocolates
and the Fairtrade share of the chocolate market is set to boom this year
with Cadbury chocolate recently announcing that its best-selling Dairy
Milk bars would carry the Fairtrade label by Easter.
Sales of sports balls stitched in Pakistan and organically grown rice,
sugar and quinoa are also growing, but it is the untapped cotton market
that the ethical brand has its eyes on.
Melbourne entrepreneur Arpad Maksay set up his Fairtrade undies shop in
Hampton in August, and now supplies ethically minded shops throughout
Melbourne.
The cotton is grown organically in the Vidarbha region in central India,
which became known as the country's "suicide belt" after it was reported
that an average of one farmer a day took their lives because of
crippling debt.
"Even if the bottom falls out of the international cotton market, the
farmers we work with are now guaranteed a minimum price," Mr Maksay
said. "There's also an extra cost or margin that we factor in, and that
goes directly to the farming community, for them to do whatever they
want to do with it, whether it's a new medical clinic or fixing the
sewerage system."
Mr Maksay says the profits are enough for him to earn a crust "but not
much more". He was unable to say exactly how much of the retail price of
the undies went to the farmers, but said they earned about 30 per cent
more than they would if they farmed conventional cotton.
He said farming collectives in the region had reported a tripling of
seasonal profits since embarking on the Pants to Poverty project.
Izzy McCoy, a former plastic surgeon and now a filmmaker, describes
himself as an "all organic kind of guy" but says he buys
the boxer-briefs not only because of his
politics. "I gave them the big two-day wear . . . It's a guy thing. They
work."
Pam Car bought her 18-year-old son a pair because she thought they would
appeal to his sense of fashion.
"They very much like the Bonds and the CK-style where you show the
waistband, and that's how they're all wearing their undies at the
moment," she says. "But he's done politics at school which he's been
very keen on and I think he'll be interested in where they come from."
Sustainable Foods
Summit
The latest statistics on the global market for fairtrade
products, as well as case studies of successful fairtrade product
companies, will be given in the upcoming Sustainable Foods Summit. The
summit takes place
in Amsterdam on
10-11th
June 2010.
More
details
Related Report:
#1001-91
The European Market for Fairtrade Fruit & Vegetables
Source: Sunday Age
(Melbourne, Australia)
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14/01/10 |
Australia: Organic Dairy Expansion Plan for
Tasmania
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An organic farm is
promoting a plan for a vast Tasmanian organic dairy industry with six
cheese factories across the state.
Elgaar Farm is running a series of meetings laying out its blueprint for
180 certified organic dairy farms and farmer-owned dairy co-operatives
in Cygnet, Oatlands, Swansea, Ledgerwood, Deloraine and Wynyard.
Owner Joe Gretschmann is projecting earnings of Aus
$190 million a year and is seeking financial backing from the
State and Federal Government and the private sector.
"We are targeting a market where we can sell the kilogram of cheese for
Aus $15, which is a lot bigger than the
conventional cheese or powder milk market," he says.
"Those profits will then go back, as the farmers will own 50 per cent of
the company and we will own the other 50 per cent of the company."
Source: ABC Rural News
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23/12/09 |
Australia:
Inika Re-Launches Mineral Cosmetics |
Following its merger with Australian organic
skin care brand Mukti, an Inika treatment line is in the works for 2010.
Also, the New South Wales, Australia-based brand was re-launched
last month with revamped packaging and product formulations.
“We needed to go back to the drawing board,” said Miranda Bond, Inika's
founder, adding while the brand received positive feedback after bowing
in the UK in 2006, the consensus from retailers was that its packaging
and visual identity missed the mark.
“It was not sleek enough,” she said. “Especially in Britain where the
consumer is so design-conscious [and there is] fierce competition
between make-up brands.”
The brand has been entirely overhauled. Its packaging, for instance,
which previously included glossy black containers, now features a
soft-touch finish. Inika's logo has also evolved from one bearing a
prominent swirl above the brand name to a more streamlined insignia.
“Our packaging now looks as glamorous and sophisticated as the products
inside,” said Bond.
Product formulations have also been addressed, with a stronger focus on
skin care and antiaging benefits. Using technology acquired in the
merger with Mukti, additional categories have also been included in the
brand's portfolio, such as organic liquid foundation, bronzing mousse
and Lip Whips, an organic alternative to lip gloss.
Product prices range from GBP 11.50
($18.38) for a 1.2-g. eye shadow to
GBP 25 ($39.95)
for an 8g. foundation.
In the UK, Inika is sold online, through beauty salons and at Whole
Foods. Also, Harvey Nichols and Sephora in Japan began carrying the
brand last month.
Organic Monitor Comment
Inika has re-designed its packaging to give its
products a prestige image. Consumers are demanding natural cosmetics,
however they do not want to compromise on product quality and the
packaging should reflect this. Inika is one of many Australian natural
personal care companies that are successfully accessing export markets.
The 'clean and green' image of Australia is a contributing factor behind
the success of such companies.
Related Report:
#4101-60 The
Australian Market for Natural & Organic
PC Products
Source:
WWD / Organic Monitor
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