Agriculture Engineering

Organic product sales in the textile and food markets increased significantly since the organic farming movement began in the 1960s. In the last ten years, an acceleration of growth – with worldwide sales of organic food and bio-textiles worth almost $ 50 billion (USD) have seen. While sales of organic products falling in some Western countries as a result of the recent economic crisis, the Organic Trade Association in the United States left have reported an impressive 17% increase in organic sales growth in 2008. The total value of organic sales growth in the U.S. currently stands at 24.6 billion U.S. dollars – half of the organic market as a whole. Organic cotton is a very strong growth market and represents a sales increase of 63% in the United States, as they are last year’s annual sales are currently at 3.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The certification is essential. It applies not only to the sale of organic products, but also makes it possible. While many products make claims that it is “natural” or “healthy” – an organic label is often seen as a sign of quality. Above all, avoid that promote false information and help to organic products. As the organic market continues to grow and becomes more and more mainstream, consumers require third-party certification to identify what they are buying. In the largest markets for organic products – the U.S., EU and Japan – the commercial use of the term “organic” is restricted by law and may only be used by certified organic producers.

In the United States can, for example, only two product groups are the coveted USDA organic seal – the “100% organic” and “organic” (ie they contain at least 95% of organic ingredients). Products with at least 70% organic ingredients / materials made it necessary to be labeled as “on organic ingredients,” but with less content, which can the word “bio-application” at all.

Since organic products is a massive growth area, there are hundreds of certification bodies in a series of standards to manage vary greatly in their value and hardness. Internationally recognized certification bodies are usually members of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) (Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) and Ecocert.

There is also a small number of standards for non-organic are used to describe the “qualities” of natural products, and often are the small organic farmers, not attributable to the organic standards because of their size or any other issue matters However, their market value is far less than is certified organic. Examples of this certification of suppliers are the United Kingdom Healthy Food Association and certified naturally grown and Certified Vegan in the United States.