Following the incident where organic carrots from various EU countries were re-labelled as organic carrots from Germany, the market cooperative Naturland-Bauer eG commissioned further independent tests, the results of which are now available.
After the first steps towards complete clarification of the allegations, the audit conducted by the Raiffeisen Assosciation Westfalenlippe, Münster, confirmed the preliminary information, which had already been reported. Subsequently, the Reiffeisen Assosciation examined the supply of 410 metric tonnes of carrots delivered from the companies Bio Frische Service GmbH and Nur Bio GmbH to Naturland between August and December 2015. They found that the faulty declaration of origin must have taken place prior to delivery to Naturland. Naturland deals with 16,000 metric tonnes of carrots annually, which means that 2.5 percent of the total volume was affected once.
The eco-inspection body IMO, Institute for Market Ecology GmbH, has confirmed this result in its own spot checks. It is explicitly stated in the provisional test report that the situation was not that a conventional product became organic, but that organic carrots of Dutch and Danish origin were made to be German organic carrots. This happened, despite the fact that - as the report also points out - there is in principle a sufficient incoming-goods inspection in place at Naturland.
The Supervisory Board and Management Board of Naturland had already ordered an immediate review of the incoming-goods inspection before the results of the audit came through, with the aim of tightening up the system in such a way that it is better protected from mistaken and abusive use.
In the meantime, Naturland has distanced itself from the managing director and the employee involved. On the 1st January 2017, Volker Ludolph will join the company as the new full-time managing director, as planne in April 2016. The 43-year-old has so far held senior positions in big businesses within the German food retail trade.
