Freek Jan Koekoek 
Coconut palm sugar, or palm blossom sugar, is gradually being discovered in western markets as a natural sweetener with some surprising benefits for companies and consumers. The product has a distinct taste and rich flavour, unlike any other natural sweetener. Compared to natural cane sugar, the sweetness is somewhat less pronounced and the flavour is … Read more
By Freek Jan Koekoek At a well-attended meeting parallel to SIAL Paris in October, the Bolivian chia sector presented its vision to develop ‘clean chia.’ It also provided a production forecast. Bolivia has become one of the leading producers, along with Argentina and Paraguay, of this superfood rich in omega 3, which is experiencing a … Read more
Few stories have dominated the public perception about a food item more persistently than the 2013 article in the Guardian titled: ‘Can Vegans Stomach the Unpalatable Truth about Quinoa.’ The Economist now takes on the claim that increasing demand by western ‘food fadsters’ is driving the population in Peru and Bolivia into poverty and undernourishment. … Read more
The article “The Global Expansion of Quinoa: Trends and Limits” published in Frontiers in Crop Science sketches the expansion of quinoa production, with a focus on the distribution of germ plasm. Based on a mini survey among experts, the authors Didier Bazile, Sven-Erik Jacobson and Alexis Verniau present interesting data on testing and breeding of … Read more
Mercadero will be present at Biofach 2016 supporting international companies, thus upholding the tradition of participating in this largest trade fair of the organic industry. Freek Jan will be coaching his clients from Indonesia and the Philippines in the CBI Pavillion in Hall 4 (Stand 4-471). Inge will be promoting chia seeds, quinoa, sesame seeds and … Read more
With the year 2015 coming to a close, import figures show that the quinoa market is still growing rapidly. In the year ending October 2015, imports increased by 40% compared to the year before (Figure 1). This is exactly the same growth rate as recorded a year earlier, from 2013 to 2014. In the year … Read more
At the end of 2015 we look back on a turbulent year in the chia market: in view of abundant stock in origin prices continued to fall; the harvests were much smaller throughout Latin-America; but the market continues to grow, as we will show below. In the year ending October 2015, chia exports to the … Read more
Our study on European market opportunities for traditional floating rice from Vietnam was published some time ago by commissioner CBI. Floating rice is adapted to changing water tables and can therefore be part of adaptation strategies for climate change. Whereas export opportunities are limited, the product has a traditional market domestically.
The CBI factsheet describes the European market for amaranth seeds, the little sister of quinoa in the family of healthy pseudo grains. Amaranth imports are estimated at 5775 tons in 2014, up from about 4500 tons in 2013. This is quite a substantial volume compared to about 15000 tons of quinoa imports in 2014. Production of amaranth, which … Read more
The CBI factsheet published in December 2015 gives a bird’s eye view of the European quinoa market and opportunities for exporters. Based on trade data until May 2015, the study suggests that import growth is flattening out and consumption and imports are spreading from early adopters to other European countries. The claim that consumption may … Read more