Organic certification serves to regulate, as well as to facilitate, the sale of organic products. Having an organic label assures product quality and prevents misrepresentation to consumers – it also helps to promote organic produce as it becomes more and more mainstream.

Food Safety certification is vital for food retail and international trade. Without food safety certification producers and suppliers cannot hope to sell their produce within the food chain. There is significant reputational and business risk attached to the degree, type and source of certification and it is therefore advisable to get certified by reputable third-party bodies to an internationally recognized standard.

With a record rise in sales bucking the trends of the economic downturn and new markets opening up in developed Asia, South Africa and Mexico, Fairtrade looks set to take centre stage on supermarket shelves the world over.

Recent figures from the FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International) reveal that worldwide sales of Fairtrade products have shot up by a massive 22% during the last economically-challenging year. Consumers spent around €2.9bn (or $4bn USD) on products carrying the Fairtrade label between June 2008 and June 2009, with global sales doubling for Fairtrade cotton (94%) and Fairtrade tea (112%), while bestsellers, Fairtrade coffee and Fairtrade bananas, rose by 14% and 28% respectively.

Organic product sales in the food and textile markets have risen considerably since the organic movement kicked off in the 1960s. The last ten years have seen a surge in growth – with global sales of organic food and organic textiles amounting to nearly $50 billion (USD). While sales of organic produce have dropped in some Western countries as a consequence of the recent economic crisis, the Organic Trade Association in the US reported an impressive rise of 17% in organic sales in 2008. The total value of organic sales in the US currently stands at $24.6 billion – that's half of the entire organic market. Organic cotton is a very strong growth area and has seen a sales rise of 63% in the US in the last year, with annual sales currently valued at $3.2 billion.