Health & Wellness: Our Favourite Products From The Natural & Organics Asia 2019 Show

We recently visited the three-day Natural & Organic Asia (NOA) fair, which was held from 3rd – 5th September at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre in Wanchai. The fair is the region’s official sourcing and trading platform connecting the global natural and organic industry. At this year’s edition, which featured 250 brands from over 20 countries, there were more new to Asia products from the wellness, beauty and food sectors. There was also a marked improvement in terms of more sustainable packaging, and more products that are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free. Below are Green Queen’s top picks of the best natural and organic brands and products spotted at the trade show this year.

Florame

Florame is an Ecocert Certified-Organic cosmetics brand, founded and headquartered in St-Remy-de-Provence in the south of France. All their products are made from essential oils made from local agricultural farms using organic practices in Provence. Florame’s products are also subject to quality control and tested by dermatologists for hypo-allergenicity. The product that stands out from Florame is their Wooden Diffuser with Organic Pine Essential Oil. The pure essential oil is non-diluted, completely natural and biologically, botanically and bio-chemically defined (BBBDEO), and is packaged using 100% recyclable materials and an ecological wooden diffuser.

Florame’s products are now available in Hong Kong through their online store. 

Coconut Matter

Coconut Matter is Asia’s favourite natural, vegan and sustainable beauty and personal care brand. Their entire range of products are handmade from wild-grown virgin coconut oil sourced ethically from the Solomon Islands, from vegan coconut deodorants, lipsticks, lip balms, body soaps, face creams, body balms and more. Of all the brands at the show, Coconut Matter is by far the most low waste in terms of packaging, which is why we are huge fans of the brand and their founder Diane, they are the rare beauty brand that is 100% plastic free. 

READ: Green Queen’s Exclusive Interview With Coconut Matter Founder Diane van Zwanenberg

Zero Yet 100

Zero Yet 100 is a Hong Kong-based natural skincare brand who made a name for themselves by launching the city’s first all-natural deodorant (read our review here), which is free of synthetics and toxins. Their range now includes products such as bath & body oils and face wash powder, all handcrafted using natural ingredients, such as cold-pressed coconut oil, pachouli essential oil, shea butter, probiotics and palmarosa essential oil.

Proving that they are committed to health and sustainability, the brand have since taken strides to remove 90% of plastic from their packaging. Taking out the plastic lamination from their stickers, their paper deodorant tubes are now biodegradable. Customers who do wish to still purchase their plastic tubes can rest assured that they can be returned to the store once completed, and the tube will be turned into colouring crayons for children through the charity Box of Hope. Zero Yet 100 have also launched a take–back scheme for aluminium spray bottles, which they will clean, sterilise and reuse. 

Nature’s Superfoods

Singapore-based Nature’s Superfoods is an organic food brand selling natural nutrient-rich whole foods. Similar to other superfood brands, Nature’s Superfoods has a range of different superfood powders and blends on offer but our we especially were crushing on their Superfood Breakfast Cereals blends, a morning boost range made from super-grains and seeds like quinoa, chia, coconut and cacao. 

Uoga Uoga Cosmetics

Based in Lithuania, Uoga Uoga is a makeup and cosmetics brand offering vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, palm oil-free natural products. The name of the brand means berries in Lithuanian – so it’s not surprise that berry extracts are the star ingredient in all of their products, a first for makeup, alongside plant oils taken from jojoba, raspberries and argan. In addition to their popular lip balm sticks, the brand has also developed creamy highlighters, a 100% natural SPF 30 sunscreen and foundation powders. While their refillable program is available only in Lithuania for now, the brand is actively working with Hong Kong distributors and hopes to bring this service to the city in the near future. 

Mãnoa Chocolate

As its name suggests, Mãnoa Chocolate hails from the tropical islands of Hawaii. The company creates a range of chocolate made using beans from small, local Hawaiian cacao farmers. Mãnoa makes an effort on the sustainability front too – all their bars are packaged using recycled paper, and the ‘plastic’ wrapping on the inside is made out of biodegradable plant-based corn cellulose! While not all of their chocolates are vegan, their 72% Hawaiian Sea Salt Dark Chocolate and 70% Dark Chocolate bars contain only plant-based ingredients. 

READ: Find out what else you missed out on at the show in our NOA 2019 Trends Roundup.

Antonym Cosmetics

We loved eco-consicous makeup brand Antonym, whose cosmetic products are Ecocert certified organic, Leaping Bunny certified cruelty-free and 100% vegan friendly. Once a cult US brand, Antonym products are now popular in Australia, Canada and Israel and they are becoming more widely available in Asia. They make an effort on the packaging front, which is notable as most makeup brands are heavy on the plastic. Antonym’s outer packaging uses FSC-certified paper sourced from responsibly managed forests and many of their products come in bamboo and paper pots. 

Kiwi Manuka

While New Zealand-based Kiwi Manuka‘s skincare range does feature products containing honey, what stood out was their palm oil-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free and vegan-friendly bar soaps made from a range of cold-pressed oils including Manuka flower, avocado, macadamia and olives. The bar soaps are made for face cleansing, hand exfoliating and body washing. Packaging-wise, there’s still progress to be made – though the plastic they use for now is recyclable and according to the company, they are looking into plastic-free solutions in the future thanks to customer feedback. 

Want more natural and organic products? Check out our guide to Hong Kong’s Best Organic Produce Boxes.

All images courtesy of Green Queen, unless otherwise indicated.