Meldung aus der Bangkok Post von heute, als Mitteilung von der ANUGA in Köln:
Cologne, Germany (dpa) - European cooks are being encouraged at the Anuga food fair in Cologne, Germany to buy pesticide-free longan fruit, which are widely utilized in East and South-East Asian sweet and sour dishes.
The Chinese name of the fruit literally means "dragon eyes" because of the shelled fruit's resemblance to an eyeball. When plucked from the tree they resemble lychees.
GTZ, the German government aid agency, is sponsoring a project in cooperation with the Thai ministry of commerce to boost Thai exports of organic longan.
The fruit are cultivated by small plantation companies without using pesticides or fertilizers.
Thailand is the partner nation at the current Anuga trade fair, which is continuing in Cologne until Wednesday. Organic foods are winning a growing proportion of the market in the West after past food scares.
At Anuga, held every two years, 6,600 exhibitors from 95 nations are showing beverages and food ranging from cheese to canned goods