New show focused on plant-based market is announced

Plant Powered Expo is the latest addition to the show calendar.

Planned to follow Veganuary 2020, the new exhibition takes place on February 1-2 at London’s Olympia, focusing on the ever-growing plant-based vegan market.

The event, which is sponsored by Bute Island Foods, will play host to 235 stands, alongside 12 features, and is expected to draw an estimated 15,000 attendees overall. It is built around businesses, brands and product launches, with a focus on shopping and the feel-good factor from living plant-based.

Among the attractions, there will be a pre-show drinks reception welcoming exhibitors, guests, trade and media on the Friday evening before the show, the New Product Showcase, and the Plant Powered Excellence Awards, celebrating the best plant-based products on the market. For more information on Plant Powered Expo, visit www.plantpoweredexpo.co.uk

Bio-D sees refill sales double

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Ethical cleaning company Bio-D has seen a 100% increase in sales of its refills products over the past year.

The Hull-based business is the UK’s leading manufacturer of environmentally responsible, ethically sound, hypoallergenic, vegan cleaning products, producing five litre and 15 litre refill versions of their cleaning products in a bid to reduce the use of single-use plastics.

Bio-D has spent 2019 focusing on increasing the number of products available in refill sizes – recently adding 5L refills of Bathroom Cleaner, lavender scented Washing-Up Liquid and Glass and Mirror Cleaner to the range.

Lloyd Atkin, Managing Director of Bio-D, said: “One of our main values as an eco-friendly business is to help reduce waste in any way possible, so its brilliant to see that sales of our refill bottles have increased so significantly.

“Climate change is a topic very much at the forefront of everyone’s mind, and it’s great that people are taking notice and making an effort to help reduce their carbon footprint.”

Founded in 1989, Bio-D create cleaning products that don’t cost the earth in any sense, using plant-based and naturally derived ingredients, and 100% recyclable bottled packaging. Over 84% of bottled packaging is also created from recycled materials that may have otherwise ended up in landfill.

Last year saw Bio-D also sign up to The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Drawing a line in the sand and supporting a vision where plastics never become waste, businesses that have signed up to the commitment aim to eliminate single-use plastics from their operations and invest in new technology so that 100% of their packaging can be recycled by 2025.

Four Sigmatic

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Four Sigmatic is a company founded by group of Finnish friends in 2012. The United Kingdom was one of the first stops of the Finnish Funguys on their journey to shroomize the world.

Currently their easy-to-use and effective functional mushroom products can be found in over 2000 natural food stores in the United States. Recently they also launched their innovative mushroom coffees in Sephora stores around United States and opened their own retail space in hip Abbot Kinney street in Venice, California.

Mushroom wave from the other side of the Atlantic is also reaching the shores of the United Kingdom and you may find Four Sigmatic products for instance in Planet Organic, Whole Foods Market and As Nature Intended, along with their own website www.foursigmatic.com.

Their sortiment has functional beverages in easy-to-use powder packets. Their most popular product is Mushroom Coffee which has been raved by bloggers, podcasters and even the Osbournes in the recent years. It tastes like coffee but it has half the caffeine of a regular coffee cup and mushrooms in it lower the acidity of the coffee and bring health benefits for immunity and cognition.

Four Sigmatic uses functional mushrooms like Chaga, Reishi, Cordyceps and Lion’s Mane which all have plenty of research and even up to 2000 years of proven usage. Finnish founders definitely haven’t been cheap with their mushrooms as their functional Elixirs have up to 1.5 grams of dual-extracted mushrooms per packet, adaptogenic herbs filling the rest of the 3 gram packet. Chaga is known to boost your immune system as Reishi, also called the “Mushroom for Longevity” has been associated with stress-relieve and improvement of sleep. Cordyceps is a favorite of the athletes due to its support for the lungs and oxygen intake when Lion’s Mane is famous for cognitive and brain supportive qualities.

OrganiCup is the healthier, easier and greener period alternative

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OrganiCup is the healthier, easier and greener period alternative to disposable pads and tampons.

• Healthier: Made from 100% soft medical-grade silicone of high quality so you do not have to worry about harmful chemicals.
• Easier: Gives you up to 12 hours of freedom. Day and night. And you can swim and do sports without worrying about leaking.
• Greener: Reusable for years and therefore saves the planet for a lot waste.

OrganiCup is packed in a small box made of recycled carton with instructions printed on the inside to save waste. The storage pouch is made of organic, unbleached cotton.

We believe in providing everyone with the possibility of a safe, comfortable and sustainable period solution – also teens. Therefore, we have just extended the OrganiCup family with a NEW cup – the OrganiCup Mini. OrganiCup Mini is specially designed for teens and those who need a smaller size.

OrganiCup Mini is made of the same soft, top-quality medical-grade silicone as our other two cups and doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals. It gives you up 12 hours of freedom, day and night – and is reusable for years.

All OrganiCup products are Certified Vegan and Allergy Certified.

Please read more at www.organicup.com

Divine hailed by Government for its ethical approach

The Department for International Trade (DIT) has highlighted the efforts of Divine Chocolate as a model for success.

The Government department highlighted that Divine’s ethical business model plays a key part in its international exporting success, with the United States being its biggest market, finding that it is leading the way in the ethical chocolate industry. The Department for International Trade (DIT) recently helped Divine to acquire a Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP) Grant, which enabled the company to attend BIOFACH 2019, in Germany.

Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox MP, commented: “It is exciting to see a UK company like Divine Chocolate, who was involved in our Britain is GREAT campaign, not only finding success in overseas markets but also ensuring that these hard-working cocoa farmers get the remuneration and industry recognition that they deserve. This is an excellent example of how important international trade is for empowering producers in emerging economies to increase prosperity and wealth.

“The UK exported an impressive £713.7m worth of chocolate last year, highlighting a global demand for British-made produce. This is a golden opportunity for other UK producers to tap into the demand and explore new international markets, and my international economic department has a network of experts on hand to help navigate the entire exporting process.”

Sophi Tranchell MBE, Group CEO of Divine Chocolate, added: “We knew from the UK market – where our initial audience and supporters were primarily Fairtrade supporters – that consumers were very proactive in spreading the message about Fairtrade products, and our chocolate was a favourite way to tell the Fairtrade story. Therefore, it made sense to grow into markets where our chocolate would be loved, and our ethical story would be appreciated.”