Guest Comment

Following his acceptance of the Award for Responsible Capitalism, Riverford Organic founder Guy Singh-Watson explains why receiving the award gave him mixed feelings.

New Year’s resolutions are in full swing now, but not everyone sticks to them as rigidly as they’d like. If this year you (or your customers) have decided to try veganism throughout the month of January (aka Veganuary), congratulations and thank you, because you’ve taken up a resolution that not only benefits yourself but also saves the lives of others.

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual opportunity to celebrate all that the organisation has achieved over the years. In my view, no other organisation has done more to make consumers stop, consider and care where their food, drink, clothes and jewellery come from.

Georgia Barnes, beauty and wellbeing business development manager at Soil Association Certification, speaks about Garnier's new organic range.

Each year for two weeks in February and March Fairtrade puts a spotlight on trade through Fairtrade Fortnight. It is a chance for people up and down the UK to stand together and show their support for farmers and workers and a way to highlight the difference fair trade can make to lives and communities.

The impact of Brexit on the NHS has been a topic of debate since the controversial claim that it would free up £350 million a week to be spent on the NHS was plastered in large letters on the side of a bus hired by the Leave Campaign in the run-up to the EU referendum in 2016. Over the summer, Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled plans to increase, through a Brexit dividend, the NHS budget by an average of 3.4% a year by 2023 – hinting that the bus pledge was to be honoured.

January is a time for new experiences, and thousands of people are trying out totally plant-based eating. As well as being cruelty-free, vegan food can provide great nutritional value for money. If you’re getting active this month, you can thrive on a vegan diet, and if you’re looking to tackle winter weight gain, fibre-rich plant foods can help to make slimming a more satisfying experience.

Delegates at last week’s Oxford Real Farming Conference pushed the Environment Secretary Michael Gove to give a clear commitment to organic, writes Michael Wale.

With 2018 already behind us, we can now say with some certainty that it was the year of plastic, or to be more precise, of the anti- plastic momentum.

As we shake off the excesses of the festive season and bring our focus to another year in this constantly evolving (but sometimes fickle) industry, I am reminded of the sheer pace of change, and the increasing shift of natural and organic values into mainstream consciousness.

Earlier this year, The Guardian broke the story of the legal dispute between the animal rights charity League Against Cruel Sports and a vegan, Jordi Casamitjana, who claims to have been unfairly dismissed for pointing out that the charity’s pension fund invests in firms involved in animal experimentation.

Each year the run-up to Christmas starts earlier and earlier. Retail calendars are planned well in advance, Black Friday has become a popular fixture in the diary and even mince-pies are on sale in September. It’s all heavily focused on shopping and buying, but as ethical trends continue to rise, we need to adapt to the new consumer who might be looking deeper.

The good governance of the food supply chain and the protection of vulnerable operators have become something of a mantra for policy-makers at both national and EU levels. One example of this is the European Commission’s recent proposal for a directive on Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain in spring.

From a health perspective, there are good reasons to throw moderation out of the window and eat plenty of minimally processed plant foods.

Whether the UK and EU achieve a Brexit agreement or fail to agree and move instead to World Trade Organization rules, there will still be changes to which the food industry must adapt.

When you’re sent to hospital for a procedure, or your child is due to start school, food is probably the last thing on your mind. Sadly, many vegans don’t have this luxury in situations where they have to rely on others to cater for them.

If there is one concern that seems to have been gaining momentum among the public this year, that is plastic pollution resulting from single-use plastic and its consequences for the environment, animal life and human health.

Helen Yeardsley, beauty industry expert, casts her eye over the campaigns making waves in the natural beauty space and examines the trends being driven by Generation D

A well-presented store with stock neatly arranged, and price and product details clearly visible, is essential to achieve customer loyalty and drive sales. The store environment in general, particularly how easy it is to shop, is no less important than having a carefully curated range that is appealingly priced.

You hear a lot of scare stories about soya, which is a shame because it’s a valuable source of nutrition, particularly if you avoid animal products like meat and dairy. Soya-based foods can be enjoyed by people of all ages, and may even provide some health benefits.