BioFach China 2007, an international fair for organic food, will be held from May 31 to June 2 in Shanghai.

It's being jointly sponsored by China Green Food Development Center and NurnbergMesse of Germany, and organised by China Organic Food Certification Center and NurnbergMesse China Co Ltd.

As the first Sino-foreign fair for organic food, the event is expected to promote long-term cooperation between Chinese and overseas organic food enterprises and create conditions for market expansion for clean food in China and abroad.

Some 195 enterprises from Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Malaysia, Turkey, the Netherlands, Brazil, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Province, and 1,500 Chinese and foreign purchasers are expected at the 6,000 square meter fair.

Participants will include the largest organic products supermarket of Germany, SuperBiomarkt, Germany's largest children's food trader Hipp, US organic food purchaser Hain Celestial Group and Carrefour China. Japan is sending a 10-member purchasing group.

A forum focusing on the development trends of organic food and the opening of an organic food market in China will be held during the fair.

Food safety, food enterprises' social responsibility and legislation relevant to the industry will be the major topics at the forum.

China is a big producer of organic food. The sector has witnessed dramatic progress in recent years, and the trend is expected to continue. In three to five years, China's organic food industry is expected to increase 30 percent annually. But China's share of the world market for organic food is very small, according to Guo Chunmin, spokesman of the fair organizing committee.

The European Union is the largest consumer of organic food. Organic food sales are expected to grow over 20 percent annually there in the next few years.

In Germany alone, over 17,000 enterprises are engaged in organic food business. Their combined sales reached 4.5 billion euro last year, Guo said.

Edeka, Germany's largest food trader, now handles over 1,000 varieties of organic food. Its sales increased 60 percent in 2006 year-on-year.

To reach out to markets as attractive as these, Chinese food producers need an opportunity to showcase their products and technology to the world, Guo said.

NurnbergMesse is a renowned international organic food exhibition company. To make the best use of its international platform to promote Chinese food, China Green Food Development Center and China Organic Food Certification Center roped in NurnbergMesse for the fair.

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