According to a recent study from the Organic Trade Association, organic products will be considered 'common place' by 2025. Its 2004 Manufacturers' Survey reveals that the organic foods industry reached $10.8 billion in 2003 and has grown at an average rate of 19.5 percent per year since 1997, while market researcher Euromonitor predicts that sales of packaged organic foods alone will be worth $8.6 billion at retail by 2009 - up from 5.1 billion in 2003.
The certification was granted by the Organic Crop Improvement Association International, which is accredited by the USDA.
In June Taiyo expanded the Sunphenon line with a number of new ingredients for food, beverage and supplement formulations, including a 95 percent pure EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) extract. EGCG is the predominant catechin on which most of the research into the health benefits of green tea has focused.
It also introduced four green tea based and green tea beverage ingredients - Sunphenon 30S, Sunphenon 30LB, Sunphenon 30R and Sunphenon MK-1 - which are claimed to be ideal for use in antioxidant-rich products, and come without the color and astringency issues of other extracts on the market.
"Our recently launched line of extracts for beverage applications allows formulators to produce organically certified antioxidant rich beverages, with or without tea taste or color," said Taiyo International sales manager Steve Wang.