BIO SUD OUEST FRANCE (BSOF): a regional trademark that guarantee to buy organic and local

By project SMEOrigin

Published on 22 November 2023

France

Aquitaine

About this good practice

The regional brand Bio Sud Ouest France (BSOF) is identified as one of the spearheads of the 3rd Regional Pact for Organic Agriculture, a roadmap whose objectives are the result of a consensus between the State (Ministry of Food and Agriculture), the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the organic sector. The new pact declines all the actions and objectives to develop and promote organic at the regional level for the period 2023 to 2027.
The demand of consumers in food products tends towards local products. This demand has emerged as one of the major expectations of the food market. Consumers associate local with quality, but not necessarily with organic.
As a regional brand, BSOF's specifications are subject to indicate a geographical area in addition to European organic regulation to fulfill all the consumers expectations.
The brand was launched in 2013. It is a private trademark owned by Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional council, registered at national and EU level at INPI (National Institute of Industrial property). The objectives are to:
- Promote a local production and supply,
- Support agreements between regional operators and farmers,
- Propose a clear identification of local organic products.
Main stakeholders are companies which process and sell organic products including 95% of agricultural ingredients weight producible in “Sud Ouest” geographical area.
In 2019, the brand started to include fairtrade criteria, with multi-year contractualization for purchases.

Resources needed

INTERBIO NA has one employee working 30% of her time on BSOF. It is financed through joint funds from the regional council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Water Agency Adour-Garonne, in the scheme of “Support to development action of organic sector in Nouvelle-Aquitaine”.

Evidence of success

Today, there are 18 companies using the trademark, with around 300 products labelled BSOF. Every semester, the accreditation committee gathers to study and approve new comers.

Potential for learning or transfer

This type of trademark is a good practice because it promotes organic agriculture. It can help others regions of France or European Union on their road to achieve the objectives of European Green Deal in terms of organic surfaces (25% by 2030).
As organic agriculture is an Official Sign of Quality, the brand is eligible to regional or/and European funds (EAFRD) through the call for projects “Information and promotion actions on the Official Signs Identifying Quality and Origin of Agricultural products”. These funds allow regional and organic SMEs to participate in national and international fairs, under the same banner.
INTERBIO NA organises collectives of companies for 15 years, on 3 to 4 fairs per year under the banner “Bio Sud Ouest France”. Besides, the fundings are also used to support BSOF promotional campaigns with retail and specialised organic detail operators, such as animation, dedicated publicity on site advertisement, special offer, game contest, etc.