Fenchem gets organic approval for plant oils, green tea
organic certification in the EU, US and Japan for its plant oils
and green tea extracts, and expects this will boost sales by as
much as 20 per cent.
The company has established a new management system to ensure that organic products could be traced throughout the entire supply chain - producing, processing, subdividing and handling.
This, it said, was in response to its customers' requirements: in particular it has noticed higher demand for organic products from Japan, and concerns from the US about solvent residue in foods.
Fenchem's Junny Liu told NutraIngredients.com that there are several certified organic green tea suppliers in China, but few organic certified manufacturers of green tea extracts.
In light of this, Liu said that green tea extracts will account for about five per cent of Fenchem revenue in future, and sales as a whole could rise by as much as 20 percent (precise current sales figures were not available).
Like in other industries, dietary supplement makers are increasingly looking to China to source raw materials since production is cheaper - a trend that is exerting price pressure on some Western suppliers.
But there has been some concerned that Chinese products may not meet EU or US standards.
Fenchem has sought to tackle this fear head-on, build confidence overseas by gaining approvals for its products - a strategy that seems already to be translating into sales.In March 2005 it received IP (identity preserved) certification for soy-derived natural vitamin E, phytosterols and isoflavones from Swiss third party testing group SGS. Indeed, it said it was one of the first companies to receive such certification.
By the end of the year it said exports of its Cholevel IP soy-derived phytosterols to Europe and the United States had increased so much that it claimed to be China's biggest exporter.
