This September, Australian Organic (Australia’s leading organic industry body) is celebrating Australian Organic Awareness Month!

Australian Organic Awareness Month (AOAM) is Australia’s largest campaign to generate awareness and education around the term ‘organic’, whilst also promoting certified organic products across a range of different categories – from fruit and veggies all the way through to cleaning products and even pet food!

You may be surprised to hear that the word ‘organic’ is not regulated in Australia, meaning that some products that are labelled ‘organic’ may not be truly organic. That’s why it’s important for consumers (like you!) to understand the importance of certified organic labels on organic products, just like the Australian Organic owned ‘Bud’ logo, to know that you are buying a true organic product.

By helping to promote certified organic products, the campaign also supports the farmers, processors, manufacturers and retailers who work hard behind the scenes to contribute to the certified organic industry.

The Australian Organic market is now worth an estimated $2.6 billion and is growing year on year, so find out how you can get involved and why you should choose certified organic!

Organic vs. Certified Organic – What’s the difference?

The term ‘certified organic’ means the farm, product or service, has been independently, third party verified by a certification agency as being organic. This means that every part of the supply chain has been through rigorous testing and adhered to a standard, such as the Australian Certified Organic Standard (ACOS).

In Australia, there is little control over the term ‘organic’ – any company can use the term in their product name or labelling, so just because a product is labelled ‘organic’ it doesn’t mean it meets the same strict standards as a certified organic equivalent.

For example, a product labelled ‘organic’ could contain just 1% organic ingredients and could have been processed using synthetic chemicals, meaning that it is not truly organic.

Certified Organic products go through a rigorous certification process – from sourcing the ingredients, to manufacturing and processing, all the way through to getting into stores. Choosing products labelled ‘certified organic’ not only gives you peace of mind that you are buying real, honest organic products, it also means that particular brand or company has complied to strict certification standards.

In Australia, there are 6 government approved certification bodies and the Australian Organic owned ‘Bud’ logo is one of the most nationally recognised certification marks – with 51% if shoppers saying that they recognise the logo. Just look for the bud!

Why choose Certified Organic products?

• Certified Organic products are as nature intended.
• Animals are free to range, pasture fed, with no growth hormones and no antibiotics.
• Fruit and vegetables are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides.
• Certified organics benefits the environment – products are produced using environmentally-friendly, biodiversity friendly methods.
• Buying Certified Organics supports certified organic farmers, manufacturers, retailers, businesses – 4,802 certified operators in Australia in 2018.

 

Australian Organic is a industry proud partner of Naturally Good and presented the 2019 market report at the show.