ProFound's Strategic Partners - developing sustainable value chains

ProFound’s partners

ProFound can count on a solid network of partners that has been built through multiple projects for more than 30 years. We benefit from a wide variety of partners, such as universities, governmental institutions, consultancy companies and foundations.

In addition, the team has built a database with contact persons within key European companies at various positions: product formulators and R&D, purchasing, sustainability, quality control and marketing. Currently, this database includes more than 1,000 contact persons within the food, cosmetics and health (ingredients) industry.

Anteja

Anteja is a woman-led consultancy and technology company on a mission to build transparent and sustainable bio-based value chains. Anteja empowers organisations and businesses in 25 countries across Africa, Europe and Latin America and offer digital transparency tools to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy

Their services, products and projects aim to reduce adverse climate and environmental impacts, diminish social inequalities, increase food security and livelihoods of local communities. Anteja is based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with liaison offices in Nairobi, Stuttgart and Boston. Anteja Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, is in charge of deploying phy2app across Sub-Saharan Africa.

AgroEco-Louis Bolk Institute

In 2016, ProFound and Agro Eco-Louis Bolk joined forces to launch the Organic Africa Pavilion at Biofach to promote Africa as a source for high-quality organic products. Every year since then, AgroEco partners up with ProFound to bring african companies to the pavilion.

Louis-Bolk Institute is an independent international knowledge institute to advance truly sustainable agriculture, nutrition and health. Together with its African partner organisation Agro Eco-Louis Bolk Institute in Accra the institute conducts practice-oriented research and offers practical solutions that can be directly implemented by their target groups.

Blue Rhino

Since 2003, Blue Rhino is facilitating and promoting financial service provision to SMEs in rural areas in Southern and East Africa. Blue Rhino has a strong track record in enhancing affordable and appropriate access to finance for farmers and agro-entrepreneurs not easily reached by established microfinance institutions and banks.

Access to finance is key to ProFound’s value chain development services. Through our sister company Blue Rhino we create inclusive finance trajectories for development in rural areas. As such, we promote the outreach of finance solutions to entrepreneurs in isolated areas.

CATIE

CATIE is the research centre focused on research and education in the management, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in Central America. CATIE and ProFound combined Central American, European and international expertise of the natural ingredients sector.

The aim was to help the natural ingredients sector to bring their natural product from Central America to the European market. ProFound has been working on;

biodiversity-friendly cocoa and cocoa products;
FSC-certified timber and timber products;
eco-products (bananas, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, cocoa and honey);
and certified coffee in a coffee export tool for Central American producers. CATIE’s headquarters are in Costa Rica.

Green Rhino & Healthy Green Choice

Green Rhino undertakes, facilitates and promotes the development of safe and organic food in Africa, starting in Kenya. Healthy Green Choice (HGC) is Green Rhino’s flagship project. Green Rhino is ProFound’s sister company in Kenya.

Healthy Green Choice builds marketplaces with safely produced food for consumers, with social, environmental and market compliance at the core. It aims to regain and build consumer trust and confidence in Kenya’s smallholder farmers by working with entrepreneurs that want to do things differently. Green Rhino, through its experts, possesses a robust track record in sustainable value chain development, market access, market analysis and linkages to institutions for affordable financing.

FairWild Foundation

FairWild specifically focuses on wild plant resources and a fair future for people. With the FairWild Standard, entrepreneurs that work with wild-collected natural ingredients can show their commitment to sustainable collection, social responsibility and fair trade principles. The partnership between FairWild and ProFound goes back to 2008, when the FairWild Foundation was established.

ProFound and FairWild both work to develop sustainable and traceable value chains for natural ingredients. ProFound supports FairWild at international events and we have built the principles of the FairWild Standard into our projects. The FairWild Foundation also supports ProFound’s integrated certification tool, which makes it easier for entrepreneurs to get FairWild and other certifications.

Klaus Duerbeck Consulting

Klaus Dürbeck Consulting (KDC) is an international information centre and consulting agency providing services for natural products industries.

Its first main objective is the accessibility of information and technology for the development of environmentally sustainable raw material resources. The second is the on-site processing of extracts in cooperation with rural communities and the productive sector. KDC’s knowledge on wild collection and processing of medicinal and aromatic plants is unmatched. This basic yet crucial knowledge is vital for entrepreneurs that want to make a move to the international market: quality products is key! Many entrepreneurs in developing countries have benefitted from the long partnership between ProFound and KDC in the field of sustainable sourcing and export promotion.

Kruger Swart & Associates

Sandra Kruger Associates has a wide experience in market access and development, training, value chain analysis and supply chain development. With this collaboration we created opportunities for exporters of Natural Ingredients in South Africa.

Sandra Kruger Associates is ProFound’s partner in South Africa, working together on CBI programs where we gave trainings to South African exporters and create new initiatives for trade development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on product level.

Netherlands-African Business Council

The Netherlands-African Business Council (NABC) is a leading organisation for trade and investment facilitation for Africa, facilitating business linkages between the Dutch and African private sector.

NABC’s purpose is to inform, inspire, connect and catalyse businesses with Africa’s opportunities and to empower businesses to make confident decisions about when, where and how to do business in Africa.

NABC is one of ProFound’s partner for the Organic African Pavilion every year at BioFach.

ProVerde

ProVerde is specialised in the horticultural sector, particularly the international trade in cut flowers, plants and foliage, as well as fruit and vegetables, and biodiversity products.

ProVerde has technical experience in developing flower purchasing systems, supply chain systems, packaging solutions, and sea freight projects.

ProVerde and ProFound worked closely in flower trade promotion. The resulting publications are well-known in the flower sector.

Utrecht University International Development Studies

Utrecht University is ProFound’s academic arm through its International Development Studies (IDS) Master degree. This cooperation has existed since the foundation of ProFound. ProFound’s director Bert-Jan Ottens has been a part of IDS Advisory Board.

ProFound receives graduated students as trainees on a regular basis. ProFound and IDS also cooperate on the research front. IDS students often engage in specific components of our international projects and assist us with interesting findings and recommendations.

Axonica Consulting

Axonica Consulting was founded by Miguel Camacho. Axonica Consulting aims to establish partnerships with its clients to ensure they identify and make the most of the international opportunities for their products and services. Miguel Camacho and ProFound are often collaborating on projects as we share common clients.

Axonica Consulting has been working extensively for the past 10 years with ITC on many projects. Miguel Camacho has worked with funding from the World Bank, ITC, UNCTAD, USAID, GIZ, ITC-ILO, among others, and have worked with clients in more than 40 countries.

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What our partners say about us:

ProFound is a valuable partner to the FairWild Foundation. They offer professional support to organisations and programmes in developing countries on sustainable development and trade promotion, of high relevance to our mission to promote the sustainable and equitable use of wild-collected ingredients.

Bryony Morgan (Executive Officer at TRAFFIC), FairWild Foundation

By cooperating with other IN2NI natural ingredient experts, each a specialist in their field, ProFound expands its portfolio of services to support value chain interventions.

Marije Maessen (CBI Senior Programme Manager), CBI

It is a pleasure working with ProFound in the area of sustainable export development and promotion. ProFound staff have extensive experience in research, sector and business analysis in Natural Ingredients and innovative and effective approaches to training, facilitation and project management. ProFound staff are professional and collaborative and we have, and will continue to learn from them.

Sandra Kruger (Founder and director), Kruger Swart & Associates

ProFound is a great partner for ProVerde. With our combined experience in market analysis and deep understanding of the flower industry, our close collaboration has proven over and over to deliver valuable insights for flower growers and their partners in developing countries. We are always looking forward to another smooth collaboration.

Milko Rikken (Director of ProVerde), ProVerde

Our cooperation with ProFound already resulted in big success: A fresh start for the Africa Pavilion with a new look. It provides a great platform for the companies we support to do business in Europe.

Willem-Albert Toose (Regional manager West Africa at Agro Eco - Louis Bolk Institute), Agro Eco - Louis Bolk Institute