ProFound launches certification tool at BioFach 2017

2018-01-26T10:20:41+00:00February 22nd, 2017|Tags: , |

Our tool for faster and cheaper certification of sustainable natural ingredients During BioFach 2017, we launched our integrated certification tool for suppliers of wild-collected natural ingredients. This tool helps suppliers to assess and certify their supply chains according to multiple sustainability standards at the same time. It includes all protocols to comply with international standards and certifications such as Good Agricultural Collection Practices (GACP), organic, FairWild and fair trade. Each standard demands different documentation sets, but these often overlap. “Certification is a costly and dreading process for suppliers. We designed this tool to make the certification process cheaper and more convenient for suppliers in emerging [Read more]

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Improving Kosovo’s food marketing at trade fairs

2017-03-14T13:49:40+00:00February 20th, 2017|Tags: , , , |

In 2016, ProFound engaged with local marketing companies in Kosovo to strengthen their capacities to support food processors. After implementing a series of activities in the food-processing sector in Kosovo, we were ready to equip local providers with the skills needed to sustain future interventions. Like in earlier activities in the country, ProFound trained the Kosovar marketing companies in the framework of Swisscontact’s Promoting Private Sector Employment programme. The activities implemented in this project served to make Kosovar marketing companies more proficient in supporting local food-processing companies in their export marketing ambitions. For ProFound, this trajectory helped us build our capacities in knowledge exchange [Read more]

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ProFound´s first verification mission to Vietnam for BioTrade project

2017-08-16T10:31:50+00:00January 23rd, 2017|Tags: , , , , |

ProFound consultant Robbie Hogervorst visited Vietnam as part of the Export Potential Assessment for the Regional BioTrade project in Southeast Asia with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation. At the end of last year, we identified promising BioTrade products from Vietnam, Lao PDR and Myanmar, by assessing their export potential. BioTrade is defined as the trade of products that are native to a country and maintain or enrich its biodiversity. In Vietnam, Robbie and the local Helvetas team verified the outcomes of this research. The team talked to companies and other stakeholders, such as government institutions, through individual interviews and a roundtable. "During [Read more]

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Promising Natural Ingredients in Regional BioTrade Programme Southeast Asia

2019-04-12T14:51:05+00:00December 6th, 2016|Tags: , , , , |

ProFound and longstanding partner Klaus Dürbeck Consulting have joined forces with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation in a SECO-funded Regional BioTrade Programme in Southeast Asia, which started in September 2016. In the first stage of this Programme, we are identifying promising natural ingredients from Vietnam, Lao PDR and Myanmar, by assessing their export potential. Teams in the respective countries are interviewing local companies and stakeholders to provide input from the field. In October 2016, ProFound’s BioTrade expert Bert-Jan Ottens and associate consultant Nuning Barwa travelled to Hanoi to train and prepare these local teams for their fieldwork.   ProFound calculated the Export Potential Index of BioTrade products [Read more]

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Discussing market access with coffee roasters in Colombia

2019-04-16T14:57:29+00:00November 29th, 2016|Tags: , , , |

What was once perceived as impossible is now gradually taking shape. Colombian roasters have built the confidence and skills to pioneer on a highly competitive market. And they are now equipped with a map of the market and the tools to work on their individual roadmaps within the CBI programme on Speciality Roasted Coffee in Colombia. To support CBI’s programme, ProFound cooperated with expert Rafael Valcarce in producing a Tailored Intelligence to support Colombian coffee roasters in accessing the European market. This study was disseminated in Colombia (Bogotá and Pereira) to the target audience in October 2016, followed by in-depth [Read more]

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Four lessons learned to develop natural ingredients sector strategy for South Africa

2017-05-31T11:37:34+00:00November 3rd, 2016|Tags: , , , |

After two years of identifying bottlenecks to export for South African natural ingredients suppliers, a sector strategy is taking shape. The strategy tackles issues such as conflicting government policies, a lack of cooperation in the sector, and access to finance. “The third strategic workshop of DTI and CBI on Natural Ingredients in South Africa, on the 28th of October, brought together all relevant stakeholders to agree on a strategy for the sector.” - Robbie Hogervorst, senior consultant at ProFound This strategy defines actions needed to develop a business enabling environment for the sector: at the level of legislation, sustainable supply [Read more]

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Stakeholders meeting results in 18 action points to develop the Ethiopian Honey sector

2019-04-12T15:33:42+00:00October 25th, 2016|Tags: , , , , |

The main stakeholders in the Ethiopian honey sector committed to an action plan for the sector in a meeting organised by ProFound and SNV. The resulting 18 action points address issues ranging from problems with out-grower schemes to opportunities for quality improvement. This type of sector action planning is a huge improvement from the independent, fragmented actions of the stakeholders in previous years. It has the potential to transform the honey sector into one of the most profitable agribusiness sectors of the country. The stakeholders have taken responsibility for their tasks and agreed to commit their resources for timely delivery of [Read more]

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Pilot certification tool: Sustainably sourcing Pine Nuts in Northern Pakistan

2017-12-19T14:24:51+00:00August 29th, 2016|Tags: , , , , , , , |

During a recent CBI mission in July to Pakistan, Bert-Jan Ottens and Michael Schwegler (our in2ni colleague) prepared the grounds for an innovative pilot scheme, aiming at the sustainable sourcing and certification of wild-collected Chilgoza (pine) nuts from the Northern areas of Pakistan. They took stock of current collection and processing practices of Community Biodiversity Enterprises (CBEs) in the Gouherabad valley, who are collecting Chilgoza pine nuts from their communal forests. The pilot introduces a ground-breaking certification solution that aims to assess and certify supply chains in the natural ingredient sector according to multiple voluntary sustainable standards. This certification tool [Read more]

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ProFound joins Helvetas in regional BioTrade in Southeast Asia

2017-02-08T16:18:50+00:00August 19th, 2016|Tags: , , , , , , |

ProFound has joined forces with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and our partner Klaus Dürbeck Consulting for a Regional Biotrade Programme in Southeast Asia, specifically in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Myanmar. This four-year programme is funded by SECO, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. The programme aims to create biodiversity-related economic opportunities in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Myanmar, by creating business models for sustainably sourced, traceable and value-added natural ingredients. Such ethical Biotrade business models will aim to create functional economic relations between local communities, processing & exporting SMEs, and international buyers. The Biotrade business models will comply with national and international [Read more]

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Relevant South African Public and Private institutions agree on actions for a better future of the Natural Ingredients sector

2016-11-01T16:27:56+00:00August 16th, 2016|Tags: , , , |

During the second strategic workshop for natural ingredients in South Africa on the 1st of July 2016, sector stakeholders set clear objectives and actions to increase exports of natural ingredients. Objectives were set along the value chain, from establishing a sustainable value chain, to processing according to international requirements, and commercialisation to the right market with the right certification and marketing tools. Objectives were also set to improve the business enabling environment and legislation, and connect research and the private sector. These objectives were translated in specific actions such as: - Developing CSR tools to help companies implement CSR - [Read more]

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