Enabling direct sales connections to Africa and the Caribbean at organic expo
ITC's Alliances for Action partners exhibited at BIOFACH 2024 in Germany to build commercial spaces for its organic cocoa and cashew networks.
Demand for organic food looks set to keep rising, driven by growing consumer awareness, health and wellness trends, and pressing environmental concerns. Government policies supporting organic farming add to the growth.
As a result, organic foods are expanding beyond niche health food stores and specialty markets to mainstream retail outlets. The ITC State of Sustainable Markets report for 2023 found the global market had reached $133 billion, led by the United States, Germany and France.
It’s against this backdrop that the ITC Alliances for Action agribusiness initiative went to BIOFACH, the world’s leading trade fair for organic food, along with selected small businesses from across its network.
From 13 to 16 February 2024, the international organic food and natural and organic cosmetics community met in Nuremberg, convening around 35,000 trade visitors from 128 countries.
No less than 2,765 exhibitors from 95 countries presented their products at BIOFACH and VIVANESS, the international trade fair for natural and organic personal care.
Under its ACP Business-Friendly and NTFV programmes, ITC Alliances for Action members from Ghana, Senegal and the Caribbean presented organic cocoa, chocolate, and cashew products. They grabbed the opportunity to hone their niche market strategies.
Bringing African and Caribbean origins and perspective to consumer crowds
ITC Alliances for Action prepared eight producers for this event. Its stand was dedicated to organic-certified cocoa, semifinished products, chocolate and cashew products with participation from Plot from Ghana, Cacao Florencio Ortega from the Dominican Republic, Ethicajou from Senegal and five cooperatives from CLAC-Fairtrade, from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The stand quickly became a meeting point for members of the Fairtrade system, buyers, and others interested in cocoa.
What set the stand apart was the rare opportunity to meet directly with African and Caribbean producers of organic goods. It also raised the interest in value-added products from countries that grow cocoa and cashews.
The event also fostered dialogues. Abel Fernandez, from the Dominican business Conacado, spoke on a panel called ‘Organic production in the South from 2025: The impacts of the new EU regulation’. He talked about the concerns, challenges, and opportunities for producers from the Global South on the new EU organic regulation.
Networking to foster relationships old and new
For some companies, like Ethicajou, this was the first time exhibiting at a European trade show. For others, it was an opportunity to cement existing relationships.
This was especially important for the cocoa producers, as a sudden rise in global cocoa prices has knocked the market off balance. They used the opportunity to meet with their clients and to build new commercial relationships in Europe.
Making new distributors and buyer connections was the icing on the cake, and results in that area were successful.
Cacao Florencia Ortega followed up on leads made at last year’s edition of BIOFACH, strengthening ties with Polish company Plus Cacao for future business.
About the projects
The ACP Business-Friendly programme is funded by the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and jointly implemented by ITC’s Alliances for Action, the World Bank and UNIDO. It seeks to improve the ability of agribusiness firms in ACP countries to compete, grow and prosper in domestic, regional and international markets. Through the Alliances for Action approach, it promotes inclusive and sustainable agricultural value chains that value all stakeholders from farm to shelf.
The Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTF) (July 2021 – June 2025) is based on a partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands and the International Trade Centre. The programme supports MSMEs in the digital technologies through its EcomConnect programme and agribusiness sectors through its Alliances for Action programme. Its ambition is two-fold: to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable transformation of food systems, partially through digital solutions, and drive the internationalisation of tech start-ups and export of IT&BPO companies in selected Sub-Saharan African countries.
