The business case for BioTrade markets

2018-06-26T12:34:59+00:00October 31st, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

ProFound’s consultants  Bert-Jan Ottens and Sacha Handgraaf supported a Helvetas training on sustainable certification schemes in the context of the Regional BioTrade Project Southeast Asia with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation. The Helvetas country teams came together in Bangkok to discuss certification trajectories for the tea, spices and thanaka value chains. This will help the teams to design strong business cases for BioTrade with business support and private sector actors in Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. During the two day-training the teams learned more about: Food safety and sustainability certifications relevant for the international market How to make the link between the BioTrade principles [Read more]

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ProFound supports project formulation for Colombia+Competitiva

2018-06-26T12:39:27+00:00September 26th, 2017|Tags: , , , |

As part of the SECO-funded Colombia+Competitiva programme, ProFound’s Gustavo Ferro was invited by Swisscontact to support Colombian applicants to formulate proposals for cocoa and natural ingredients projects. An expert panel will assess these proposals and choose projects that will be co-funded by the programme. Gustavo travelled to five locations in Colombia, and discussed extensively with project partners. With the organisations, he addressed broad subjects on market developments, access requirements, segmentation and, most importantly, how to translate the problems therein into practical interventions. Gustavo answered questions, shared experiences and assisted the applicants in structuring their thinking into a market systems approach. The Colombia+Competitiva [Read more]

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Training Tunisian producers – How to access the European cosmetics market?

2017-09-22T11:26:52+00:00September 22nd, 2017|Tags: , , |

On behalf of the German Import Promotion Desk (IPD), ProFound’s consultant Robbie Hogervorst provided a two-day training in Tunisia on the European cosmetics sector. During the first day, Robbie brought a group of business support organisations up to speed on European market dynamics and requirements for cosmetic products and ingredients. Based on these insights, the participants developed a storyline for Tunisian cosmetic products on the European market, and translated this into ideas and actions for future trade fair participations.      On the second day, more than 80 participants from the private sector learned about cosmetic market trends and market [Read more]

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Market Orientation @Vitafoods Asia in Singapore on BioTrade marketing

2017-09-21T08:00:18+00:00September 21st, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

Within the scope of our work on the Regional BioTrade Project Southeast Asia with Helvetas, our senior consultant Robbie Hogervorst supported a Helvetas training mission in Singapore. During the training, selected companies gained insight into their potential to export BioTrade products; learning about buyer and market requirements, BioTrade market trends, and possible trade channels. The companies also learned how to translate their new insights into their marketing plan: How to develop a suitable product, how to promote it, how to price it? This is part of our activities in Business Planning (see our solutions page for more information). During the [Read more]

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Pukka Herbs and ProFound ready to pilot NI-CheckApp

2018-02-07T11:14:32+00:00September 12th, 2017|Tags: , , , , , , |

Pukka Herbs and ProFound are ready to pilot our Natural Ingredients (NI) CheckApp for wild ingredients in India. We will use this tool to help Pukka Herbs establish clear, agreeable sustainability best practices and minimum guidelines with their suppliers. “One of the challenges faced by some of our suppliers is that we require both organic and FairWild certification; this currently requires two separate audits and two sets of documents, making it a time-consuming and costly undertaking. It is exciting to see that ProFound has created a tool that harmonises and simplifies some of the key certifications in our supply chain.” [Read more]

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ProFound commits to demand driven models to improve food safety in Kenya

2017-09-05T16:02:56+00:00September 5th, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

Consumer demand for safe fruits and vegetables in Kenya is continuously growing. However, supplies of safe food for the domestic market fall way short of this demand. Smallholder producers in Kenya account for around 75% of the total agricultural production, including fresh fruits and vegetables. The vast majority of these smallholder producers are not producing in compliance with minimum food safety requirements, due to capacity gaps and disincentives to comply. The majority of supply is still highly informal and non-transparent, lacking traceability and food safety requirements. Finding opportunities to market safe food in Kenya In July, ProFound’s director Bert-Jan Ottens [Read more]

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CBI and ProFound awarded for Natural Ingredients work in Pakistan – preparing companies for multiple certifications

2020-03-04T09:47:29+00:00August 25th, 2017|Tags: , , , , , , |

ProFound executive director Bert-Jan Ottens and IN2NI colleague Michael Schwegler just returned from a CBI mission in Pakistan, in the context of CBI’s Natural Ingredients programme. During the mission, Bert-Jan and Michael trained five companies on traceability and sustainability requirements, and the certification thereof. Three companies are prepared for certification in 2017/18, using ProFound’s NI-CheckApp. The companies are getting ready for FairWild and organic certification audits later this year, and aim to present their dual-certified pine nuts at the BioFach trade fair in Germany in February 2018. At a trade Expo in Gilgit-Baltistan, the team received an award from the [Read more]

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Addressing support needs of South African health ingredients companies

2017-09-14T13:53:47+00:00August 15th, 2017|Tags: , , , |

ProFound consultant Robbie Hogervorst visited five health ingredients companies during a two week mission to South Africa. With each company, he discussed their company needs for the coming year and developed an action plan to solve these issues. These five companies are all part of the CBI's program Natural Ingredients for Health products. In this program, ProFound works together with our partner Sandra Kruger & Associates. Company support needs Even though the companies are different in terms of their products, markets and capacities, they share several needs, including: Certification requirements according to market and buyer needs, both in terms of voluntary and [Read more]

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Ethiopian honey value chains become stronger

2019-04-16T12:20:33+00:00August 2nd, 2017|Tags: , , , , |

ProFound and its partners SNV, Enclude and EAB are developing solutions together with processors in Ethiopia to improve the quality of their honey. Some solutions only require strict application of Standard Operating Procedures within the processing facility. Other solutions require intense cooperation with beekeepers. See our story on organic honey from Ethiopia to learn more about our work with beekeepers in Ethiopia. During a training by ProFound's consultant Kasper Kerver, processors and supporting institutions such as the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and the Agricultural Transformation Agency learned how honey exporters can set and meet quality expectations of their (international) buyers. [Read more]

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Finalising the inception phase of the Regional BioTrade Project

2017-08-16T10:31:31+00:00May 3rd, 2017|Tags: , , , , |

Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and ProFound collaborated closely on an Export Potential Assessment (EPA) in the Regional BioTrade project in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar). Since September 2016, ProFound consultants and Helvetas national teams have identified bottlenecks and possible interventions through desk research, fieldwork and verification missions. ProFound worked together with the Helvetas teams in researching the possibilities for BioTrade. Their help with the desk research, field work and reporting has been very useful in the completion of the inception phase of the project. - Tuan, Le Anh, Deputy Project Manager, Regional BioTrade Project Southeast Asia, Helvetas Vietnam The combination [Read more]

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