The Organic Trade Association is the North American membership-based trade association whose mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy. It is the leading voice for organic trade in the United States, representing over 6,500 organic businesses across 49 states.

“The Canadian OTA, headquartered in Ottawa, ON, is a spin-off of the OTA,” explained Barbara Haumann, senior writer and editor for the Organic Trade Association. “Our organizations work closely together to have a strong presence at the BioFach in Nuremberg, Germany.”

BioFach is purported to be the world’s leading trade fair for organic food. The event will hold its 25th anniversary event Feb. 12-15.

Matthew Holmes, executive director of the Canada Organic Trade Association.At its 2013 event, 2,207 exhibitors displayed their products and services, and nearly 42,000 visitors from 126 countries were in attendance. The top five countries in attendance were Austria, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Poland, with an international share of 44 percent of visitors.

In Oct. 2013 BioFach interviewed trend researcher Mirjam Hauser, senior researcher at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute in Switzerland. In the interview, released in press form by BioFach, Hauser stated, “It is interesting that there are not only one or two key values, but a whole handful. The most obvious are the choice and quality of the products, plus convenience — being able to obtain everything easily and practically.

“Also important is health,” she continued in her statement. “And sustainability, of course, which has been around for a long time and will become even more important in the future. There are also three more large value fields — first, ‘cozy and familiar;’ second, ‘close to source;’ and third, ‘investing a lot of time.’ Here is the dilemma that consumers do not know how to fulfill all these wishes at the same time. This is hardly possible in everyday life. We are all constantly on the move and work a lot, so no time is left for preparing food. People try to optimize routines or eat something quickly when under way. The social component is very important.”

She went on to explain how her research on factors in the value field of organic, regionality and fair trade can benefit organic producers and handlers.

“First the retailer can and must establish direct contact with the customer and demonstrate short value chains,” she said. “The retailer must be able to explain how products have been created and what ecological and social components play a role. This is an advantage of organic products that can be increasingly used in the future. The other factor is that the consumers’ trust in organic, regionality and fair trade food is still very high today. However, [purchasing] decisions really should be simplified. Consumers want to make an uncomplicated choice. Complexity reduction is absolutely important. The customer wants to get the feeling: Here you can trust us. We vouch for the food on this shelf!”

Well over 100 exhibitors from the United States and Canada combined will participate in the 2014 BioFach. The COTA plays a major role representing North America at the event.

In 2013, the Canadian Organic Trade Association led a successful Canadian mission to BioFach, with strong branding presence and many members exhibiting and walking the show.

Matthew Holmes, executive director of the Canadian Organic Trade Association represented both the OTA and the COTA to present new information on the North American organic market and consumer as part of a panel revealing findings of the 2013 edition of the World of Organic Agriculture, published by the International Foundation for Organic Agriculture and Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau. At the presentation, Holmes forecast the combined North American organic market would be valued at $35 billion for the United States and $3 billion in Canada for 2012.

At the 2014 BioFach, Holmes will once again participate in a panel addressing the topic of Global Market Overview — Europe, North America, Japan, China. He will discuss the analyses of current market developments, characteristics and trends, as well as reflection from a global organic trader’s perspective.

The COTA, just like the OTA, has a membership of growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers’ associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants and retailers. Its mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy.

The OTA headquarters are in Washington, DC, with offices and staff in Vermont, California and Oregon, with its Canadian partner’s Ottawa office included among its offices.