BIO FOODS
Q: Could you share and elaborate on the rationale behind organic agriculture as a sustainable way of life?
A: Organic agriculture is defined as an environmentally-friendly, culturally sensitive, socially responsible, economically viable and sustainable production system that’s supported by an efficient management structure; it is therefore, a sustainable lifestyle and philosophy that inherently includes fair trade concepts.
A true follower of organic agriculture must respect all aspects of sustainability, and embrace it as a passion and way of life.
At Bio Foods, we believe in organic farming and ethical trade practices as tools to establish sustainability in all agricultural practices. Rigorously maintained organic standards ensure that the ecosystem remains fertile and productive for future generations.
Fair trade standards ensure that farmers always have the security of being guaranteed a proper and just price, providing an incentive to not only keep farming but keep farming responsibly too.
By adhering to these principles, our organisation is able to sustainably cater to an ever-growing demand for ethical organic food from around the world. We believe in taking care of each aspect of the value chain to ensure true traceability.
Bio Foods has been producing organic certified bio fertiliser – according to EU standards – for its large network of organic farmers since 2013.
By the company’s own assertion, there is ‘no blind belief here’ when it comes to sustainability and ethical trading. Bio Foods has an extensive and long list of independent global third party certifications and accolades to confirm beyond any doubt, the authenticity of its assurance of supplying only 100 percent sustainable, fair and organic products.
Q: Initiated as an exporter of organic and fair trade tea, could you outline the history of your organisation?
A: Bio Foods was formed as a company dedicated to organic trading in 1993. We began by producing and exporting organic teas to the German market. Our organisation also formed the Small Organic Farmers’ Association (SOFA) for the supply of organic teas, and then expanded to include spices, coconuts and many other organic certified products.
Today, the company enjoys a global reputation as one of the world’s leading providers of biodynamic, organic and fair trade agriculture supplies – a clear attestation of the company’s ability and commitment to producing sustainable, unadulterated and natural harvests.
At Bio Foods, we do not focus on branding; we’re an indirect brand. We build partnerships with different segments locally and internationally, while enriching the lives of farmers and their communities.
As a policy, we do not exploit market price drops for our advantage – we have had minimum price structures that cover the cost of production of our farmers since inception with fixed profit margins.
We take pride in having been a ‘green trader’ for the last 30 years. Bio Foods obtained fair trade certification by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) for many products quite early on because of the ethical practices established within the company.
This is how we became the first fair trade certified company in the world for the supply of coconut produce and spices.
Currently, our product portfolio includes exquisite varieties of pure Ceylon Tea – both black and green – along with our own line of special Heaven Scent Teas, grown and made according to a unique patented manufacturing process developed by our very own research and development (R&D) unit at Bio Foods.
In addition, we supply a range of 100 percent organic spices, and coconut products such as coconut milk and desiccated coconut.
Q: The pandemic and other economic challenges have challenged Sri Lanka’s export sector. How do you assess the current situation?
A: It is true that the pandemic has significantly affected the export sector in Sri Lanka as is the case in every country in the world.
At times, there was over a four-fold escalation in freight costs, and forex rates too have risen sharply due to the rapid depletion of our foreign currency reserves. These are two of the major trade hurdles we have encountered in recent times.
Retailers are not willing to change the pricing of products as it would in turn affect the end consumer. Therefore, distributors and brands have had to absorb the additional costs so far.
What’s more, certain business sectors have witnessed a major downturn in their activities in relative terms – especially tourism. However, since food supply is an essential service, I believe we have fared much better than most industries.
Further, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in people seeking nutrients to boost their immunity. Accordingly, the demand for organic food has increased across the world.
Unfortunately, against this backdrop, logistical issues resulting from increased transport costs and unavailability of containers have led to major constraints in mobilising goods to and within international markets.
Q: How important are innovation and product development for export companies, in your opinion?
A: Without innovation and development of new products, no business can survive. The story of Bio Foods is the best example: when we started in 1993, there were only one or two rivals in this field; now we have more than 400 companies competing with us and we’re still very much in the playing field.
If we had not adapted to the new world and constantly upgrade our portfolio, we would have been bulldozed by these new entrants – especially given how the barriers to enter the market have been lowered.
Rivalry is vital to the economy but as an organisation, we need to stay ahead of the competition – and innovation is necessary to achieve this.
Today, with the advancement of technology, the world is changing at an accelerated pace. The only way to survive this volatility is to analyse trends and predict the future.
However, if you wait too long, merely observing your global counterparts, and take too much time to learn and implement new found strategies, you’d invariably miss the window of opportunity to reap maximum benefits.
Therefore, a delicate balance needs to be maintained.
Q: Could you outline Bio Foods’ product portfolio and explain the ethos behind your operation?
A: Our ambition is to sustain an organic and fair trade way of life for all. Some day in the future, we would love to see consumers enjoying only 100 percent organic, chemical free produce.
In many ways, the pandemic has reminded us about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle; and as people have inclined towards consuming organic food to supplement their immune systems, we have observed a clear increase in demand.
At Bio Foods, we have built strong supply chain partnerships, and processing facilities to produce organic teas, spices, coconut produce, and individually quick frozen (IQF) products. Our commodities are exported to European, North American, Japanese and Australian markets where our products are highly regarded.
Our market presence has been well-established in many countries around the globe.
Further, we’ve built the necessary infrastructure to produce solid and liquid bio fertilisers, and have been manufacturing these researched products for over five years. Bio Foods is the leading producer of ecological soil and plant inputs in Sri Lanka, currently fulfilling significant contracts with the government in supplying huge volumes of fertiliser for paddy farmers in the country.
This is all in line with our aspiration to be the best environmentally-friendly organic food producer in Asia while remaining a strong and sustainable fair trader to our primary producers and other stakeholders alike.
Q: Bio Foods has been recognised and awarded by various esteemed bodies, both locally and internationally. Could you outline the organisation’s achievements?
A: One of the special accolades we received was the Best Global Corporate Partnership Award – Europe’s most prestigious tribute bestowed in the field of sustainable development. We received this award at the German Sustainability Awards 2020 for our partnership with the GLS Bank of Germany.
In addition, we were one of the finalists at the Sustainability Food Awards in 2019 at the Fair Trade General Assembly in Bonn.
It was my honour to receive the first ever World’s Fairest Fair Trader Award in 2014, awarded by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO). Bio Foods was also acknowledged as the Best Exporter in the organic products sector in Sri Lanka at the Presidential Export Excellence Awards in 2015/16, 2019/20 and 2020/2021.
These are some of the many accolades that we have been privileged to receive. However, materialistic awards are not what we’re after. While we are grateful for all the accolades we have received so far, our primary aim is to win the hearts and minds of all our stakeholders, from our farmers and partners to consumers.
Q: What are Bio Foods’ plans for the long term particularly in terms of expansion?
A: Naturally, we will continue to focus on our core business. However, Bio Foods is intending to expand its operations to introduce more value-added organic commodities.
The primary goal of our R&D unit is to develop new and innovative products in high demand based on consumer survey information with the expectation that such goods will be easily marketable.
There are a host of new innovations under consideration in our pipeline, and these too will be developed in line with our established reputation as an organic and fair trade organisation. In addition, we are hoping to extend our reach to new geographical territories with our IQF products.
Furthermore, the continued expansion of our bio fertiliser production operation is very much a focus for us, particularly since it is a much needed commodity considering the present agricultural framework of the country. We do see it as a worthy goal, eventually healing as much land as possible from the long-term damages of using synthetic agrochemicals.
After all, if the lands that yield our crops are not maintained in a sustainable manner for the next generations, the organic industry cannot flourish nor indeed, exist. It will certainly not have a future.
We will continue to strive in our mission to safeguard our agricultural land, water, air, the food that fuels us and in turn, our own health and wellbeing.
