Ethiopian organic honey & beeswax enter European market

2018-02-22T10:31:26+00:00February 21st, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

With support of ProFound, Ethiopian honey processors in the ASPIRE programme made great progress over the past three years. They set up organic certified supply chains, installed processing equipment, imported drums for packaging and tackled other export and quality problems in the challenging Ethiopian business environment. COMEL, Yerkisho and Zembaba Union managed to export their first containers of organic certified honey to Europe. These exports are good news for their beekeepers who benefit tremendously from the honey trade. From February 12 to 19, four Ethiopian honey processors and several government representatives visited Germany for a trade mission organised by ProFound. [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 at BioFach: bringing organic suppliers from Africa and Pakistan

2018-02-22T10:31:37+00:00January 26th, 2017|Tags: , , , , |

From 15 to 18 February, ProFound will manage the Organic Africa Pavilion with 15 organic suppliers. We will also launch an innovative integrated certification tool with the FairWild Foundation and support three Pakistani suppliers at the CBI stand. Going to BioFach? Read on to see where to find us. 15 suppliers at Organic Africa Pavilion – stand 4-269 The Organic Africa Pavilion is back at BioFach 2017. This year we present 15 suppliers from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The exhibitors will bring high quality products from all over the continent. From exciting and innovative products such as baobab, [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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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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Business Organizations adopt export marketing training for South African Natural Ingredient exporters

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

Within the scope of the CBI natural ingredients project in South Africa, ProFound developed a training with CECOSA, the Cosmetic Export Council of South Africa, for companies to develop an export marketing plan. This plan helps companies to decide which product to export to which market, and what actions, people and investments are needed to get there. Also, the export marketing plan is suitable to request subsidies for market entry from DTI, the South African Department of Trade and Investment. Food South Africa / The Western Cape Fine Food Initiative, identified new services for their members – such as a market [Read more]

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Making high quality products for Europe

2016-11-01T16:27:56+00:00June 9th, 2016|Tags: , , , , , , |

ProFound consultant Kasper Kerver prepared ten Ethiopian entrepreneurs for their exports to international markets. He coached honey, pulses and seeds producers on quality and Food Safety Management and what international buyers expect from them. During the training, Kasper Kerver explained international buyers’ specific requirements for high quality products and Food Safety Management. The participants exercised with HACCP planning and received recommendations on their options for certification. Food Safety Management is a critical bottleneck to export honey, pulses and seeds to international markets. Many Ethiopian producers understand that international buyers want ‘high quality’ products, but don’t know exactly what they mean by that. [Read more]

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