By Ye Jun (Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2007-11-19 10:50

Hongkonger Verna has worked in Beijing for two years, but only recently became fastidious about eating quality food after becoming pregnant. With occasional rumors of hygiene problems with local food, Verna was worried about the possible effect on her unborn baby. She called up a local friend and asked: "what do you think is safe to eat?"

Whether her concern was warranted or not, there is one certain answer to Verna's question: organic foods. Following the opening of Lohao City in September 2006, more and more organic markets have emerged in Beijing. Organic products are now widely available at Pricemart, Carrefour, and Jenny Lou's.

Lohao City's supermarket at 52 Jingshun Lu opened last year. The brandname has opened two other stores in Beijing, one near Chaoyang Park, one at Shuangjing, and another one in Shanghai. A fourth Beijing store is opening soon.

Its founder, Terry Yu, a Taiwan IT industry guru, rented a farm, Le Zhiwan Ranch, in Miyun for friends to spend their weekends. The ranch accepts a limited number of visitors upon application. But after a while, more and more friends started asking where they could buy the organic fruits, vegetables, and chicken, produced at the farm. The idea of Lohao City was born. The concept (an acronym for "lifestyle of health and organic") has become rather popular in the past year.

Later, as what is produced at the ranch can not keep up with the demands of customers, Lohao City, a member of OFDC (Organic Food Development Centre), started seeking the organization's advice in sourcing more organic supplies from China and around the world. At its Shunyi branch, for example, 35-40% of more than 7,000 products are organic goods, according to Cindy Yin, project manager at Lohao City.

There are not just health foods, but organic essential oils, organic supplies for babies and moms, household supplies such as bamboo, charcoal and organic textiles, as well as video, audio products, books and magazines about the concept of Lohao.

Customers will be pleased to find environmental-friendly dishwashing liquid produced in Taiwan, and veggie wash made from organic citrus in the USA. Besides what is produced in Le Zhiwan Ranch, such as organic honey and free-range eggs, there are big-name organic products such as those of Peter Rabbit.

The store has a special section of organic rice and noodles from China and other countries. There is home-made beancurd, milk and yogurt, as well as bread and pastry. Fresh organic vegetables are also available, besides a number of organic herbs, such as vanilla, beansprouts, and seeds to grow your own vegetables and office plants.

Terry Yu expects organic food to be a mainstream trend over the next three to five years in China. But most customers at the store are still foreigners, and people from Hong Kong or Taiwan. The price difference is a big barrier to overcome in winning over local consumers. For example, a bottle of veggie wash made of organic citrus (473 ml) from US costs 77 yuan, while a bottle of Golden Fish detergent made in Beijing only costs 3.5 yuan. Obviously, being healthy and organic is not just a question of awareness, but also of financial capacity.

But still, the healthy and organic concept can be carried out everywhere in life.

"It is not uncommon when I look at Beijing's sky, and I suddenly realize there has not been a clear sky for days," said Cindy Yin. "Remember that does have to do with such small things as carrying your own chopsticks, or using a non-chemical detergent."