Guest Comment

Summer loving

Summer solstice (solstice derived from the Latin word sol, meaning ‘sun’) happens around 21 June, and is the longest day of the year. It’s also the only day of the year when all locations inside the Arctic Circle experience a continuous period of daylight for 24 hours, and many argue that it marks the official start of summer.

How to regenerate organic – privatize it

How can we free organic from its self-imposed bureaucratic box? We could always ask Brussels to privatize us, says Craig Sams

What does it actually mean to detox?

Here, nutritional therapist Katie Clare takes a look at the often controversial subject of detoxification.

Brexit or remain: what does it mean for the health industry?

Nelsons’ director of regulatory affairs Steve Mann looks at the possible outcomes of the EU Referendum and what they may mean for the health industry.

A beautiful mind

Life in the 21st century is just one long, ever-decreasing circle of commonality. In the same way that the older you get, the social game of six degrees of separation actually begins to ring true, it seems to me that no matter what genre you look at, it’s intrinsically linked with all others.

Is moringa the ‘superfood of superfoods’?

Is moringa the 'superfood of superfoods'? asks Patrick Holford

Mind the gap

John Silvestro has some tips on how to show your customers how premium can be affordable.

Brexit – should we stay or should we go?

As the nation ponders the Brexit question, Craig Sams reflects on the EU’s inglorious record on food and health.

Fairtrade for all

Research has demonstrated that green tea is packed with beauty benefits that consumers can attain by drinking it as well as by applying it directly onto their our skin, which is great news for all you natural beauty retailers looking for a nifty way to tap in to next month’s Fairtrade Fortnight.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

It’s official, the ideal age for a person, according to the people of Britain, is 36. New research brought to us by a recent YouGov survey shows that the majority of the 1,700 people who took part in the poll view middle age as having the highest prestige, status and everything else deemed to be good and worthy.

Cheer up, we just reversed humanity’s decline

OK, reversing humanity’s decline took 40 or 50 years longer than we thought. But let’s celebrate it anyway, writes Craig Sams.

How to lengthen your life and your telomeres

The process of making a new cell in your body starts by copying the map of how to build that cell, which is contained in a package of DNA strands called a chromosome.

Food and friendship without frontiers

Craig Sams celebrates the role of the natural food industry in helping to nourish refugees in Calais camps.

A Tale Of Two Retailers

As John Lewis Partnership and Marks and Spencer Christmas sales figures are announced I am reminded of how even large retailers can misinterpret the...

Retail revolution

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, even the January sales have started appearing before we’ve sung the New Year in. Loud price slashing has always been most retailers’ preferred way of engaging with consumers, and once our interest is piqued we’re further enticed with BOGOFs, three-for-two deals and any other money-saving offer that can be dreamed up. It’s a war zone where a war of attrition is being played out to the bitter end.

Pop up and listen

In my July Beauty Buzz column Organic beauty retailing – the future is multi-channel I wrote about how high street fashion retailer H&M had become the latest store to relaunch its beauty collection, which included a subsidiary-conscious range of Ecocert-approved sustainable products.

Grow organic, save the planet

Solving global warming was never going to be easy, but it would be a heck of a lot easier if we cast off the...

Are we nearly there yet?

As this latest installment of my Beauty Buzz column goes to press, we are putting away the chairs  and closing the door on yet another hugely successful Round Table discussion hosted by the Natural Beauty Yearbook and Natural Products News magazine.

Repetition is key

Keep it clear. Keep it transparent. And no, I’m not just referring to your well-cared-for complexion! That’s the mantra this September when the Soil Association embarks on yet another emboldened Organic Beauty Week, focused this year on the theme, Campaign for Clarity.

Bitter sweet insanity

How seriously should we take official exhortations to cut sugar consumption while governments continue to subsidise industrial scale sugar farming? asks Craig Sams When my...