The land north of the Chinese capital of Beijing, managed by a company called Organic Farm, is nothing if not attractive. Chickens scratch in the dirt, greenhouses glint in the sunshine and mountains provide a spectacular backdrop. It is a rural idyll a world away from the bustle and pollution of Beijing.
But the tranquillity of the scene belies the sometimes turbulent development of China's organic food industry. Myriad food scares in the country have bred a cautious consumer population that might be keen to embrace the apparent safety associated with the organic version. Consumers looking to buy organic are faced with quality and authenticity issues, multiple accreditation systems and high prices. These, admit those working in the industry, have acted as a drag on growth.
"Some Chinese [organic food] exporters have made a bad impression," says Li Xiaoxue, the vice general manager of Organic Farms. "There are lots of suppliers and farmers doing the right thing, but it's really hard work because we have to compare [our prices] with the conventional products." China is not an obvious place for growing organic food, beset as it is with severe environmental pollution that affects the air, soil and water supply. It has an agricultural system that relies heavily on the use of phosphate-based fertilisers, often at levels that farmers in some other countries would baulk at.
Yet the country has long been a major exporter of organic food, especially beans and seeds, and by 2006 had reached second place in terms of the amount of land under organic management. Some producers are focusing on the country's domestic consumers who, with their increased disposable incomes thanks to rapid economic growth, may be more likely to buy organic produce than before. Organic Farm is one such company trying to tap into the local market. Founded in 2000 by Ms Li's mother, Conghong Chen, it has six farms across the country, including one each near Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, three of China's "first-tier" cities where the more sophisticated local consumers are thought to be likelier than average to buy food produced without chemical fertilisers or pesticides.
The company sells 60 different vegetables, seasonal fruits and 30 types of grains and beans, some of them grown with fertiliser made from waste vegetables and sheep and chicken manure. Turnover last year was 65 million yuan (Dh34.9m), driven by sales to major supermarket chains such as Carrefour and Tesco. While Organic Farm puts labels on its foods so customers can tell which farm it came from, Ms Li admits that for grains and beans in particular, traceability is difficult and it was easier for unscrupulous suppliers to label non-organic produce as organic.
Indeed, the whole of the authenticity of Chinese organic food has dogged the sector. In a market where fakes are common, it is perhaps unsurprising that the organic insistence on the absence of chemical pesticides and fertilisers has not always been adhered to. Traces of pesticides were found in organic spinach exported to Japan and there have been many cases domestically of conventionally grown crops being labelled as organic.
"Some people, they don't trust the organic produce; not just one product or one company, it's the whole industry," Ms Li says. Tom Wang, the chief media officer for the pressure group Greenpeace in China, says there have been cases of regular produce being bought at markets "put into a different package and claimed to be organic". "You cannot control that or we don't have an established system to control this," Mr Wang says. "It's understandable why consumers are quite suspicious or sceptical."
Linked to the issue of enforcing standards is the problem of defining them. The Organic Food Development Centre (OFDC), a government standards organisation founded in 1994 and based in Nanjing, says it is one of 24 organic certification bodies in the country. But Mr Wang describes the labelling system as "very, very vague". "If we want to talk strictly speaking, there isn't really a national standard or ? certificate," he says.
Despite there being many organisations that offer organic accreditation, Tang Jian from the OFDC says they operate under the government's China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment, which provides comprehensive supervision of the industry. "It's very clear and easy to recognise," Mr Tang says of the logo that identifies food as organic, the use of which, he adds, is "under control".
But Chinese consumers also have to contend with different names for various products, including "Green Food", a name given to food produced with smaller amounts of chemicals, rather than none. Mr Wang says a lack of clarity in terms of labelling has "obviously" held back sales of organic produce in China. He also says subsidies for fertilisers have helped magnify price differentials between organic and non-organic produce.
"Still the government supports the farm [fertiliser] subsidies," Mr Wang says. "That's quite a clear signal from the government - there isn't support." While there have been instances where retailers have apparently moved too fast for the market - such as O Store, an outlet that opened to cater for Shanghai's sophisticated consumers by selling just organic produce, only to close as a result of poor sales - China's organic sector is growing despite the problems it has faced.
Producers say sales of the country's organic produce, which three years ago were valued at 6.17 billion yuan, about one third the level that year of the UK, a country with about a 20th of China's population - are increasing significantly. Organic Farm reports annual growth of between 20 and 25 per cent over the past four years, while analysts have also seen expansion. Marie Jiang, a retail analyst at JLM Pacific Epoch in Shanghai, says organic food is "gaining more and more popularity" in China and supermarkets are keen to stock it.
But Ms Jiang cautions that high prices make it difficult for average consumers to buy organic produce. "The consumers also need more education on the benefits of organic food and packaging so they can see there's more quality," she says. For the sector to progress, Ms Jiang says more rigorous management by supermarkets is required to prevent conventionally grown produce being falsely labelled as organic.
"The quality control for supermarkets will be an important issue to convince more consumers how much benefit they should get from organic food," she says. Ms Li says the degree to which the industry still has to develop in China is illustrated by the range of goods on sale in the company's farm store. There are fruit juices, boxes of breakfast cereal, tea, coffee, honey and even cosmetics. The problem is, nearly all of them are imported. While basic organic fruits and vegetables can be found in the major cities, other organic products are harder to track down.
"There's a very poor product range [made in China]," she says. "There are a few organic products we can find in China, but the things people use every day, you still cannot find. "Definitely we're looking forward to Chinese suppliers [being able to supply the goods], that way we can lower all our costs. It's about making the prices acceptable to the customer and supplying something to the Chinese tastes."
business@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Price, base: Dh132,000
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 285hp @ 6,400rpm
Torque: 347Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.6L to 10.3L / 100km
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Maratha Arabians 107-8 (10 ovs)
Lyth 21, Lynn 20, McClenaghan 20 no
Qalandars 60-4 (10 ovs)
Malan 32 no, McClenaghan 2-9
Maratha Arabians win by 47 runs
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3
Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)
Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)
Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)
Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)
MATCH INFO
Everton v Tottenham, Sunday, 8.30pm (UAE)
Match is live on BeIN Sports
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
FORSPOKEN
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Diablo%20IV
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Starfield
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FIGHT%20CARD
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
