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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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ProFound market research natural alternatives to sugar: Lucuma and Yacon opportunities

2017-03-16T09:01:14+00:00September 2nd, 2016|Tags: , , , , |

ProFound supports developing country exporters to bring their natural ingredient to the European market, providing market information regarding specific products that have a potential on the market. As more consumers are interested in a healthy diet, and as refined sugar has developed a bad name among several consumer groups, natural alternative sweeteners are an interesting product group. We therefore expect that lucuma and yacon will become more popular among European consumers. We have spoken to European importers and retailers of natural sweeteners and visited the ‘Free From Food’ fair in Amsterdam to discuss the European market of natural sweeteners with [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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ProFound and Sandra Kruger and Associates help save endangered rooibos

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

The rooibos sector is under pressure. Volumes are going down because of drought and a lack of investment in production, value addition in South Africa remains low, and incomes for workers and small farmers in the sector are insufficient to support their families and communities. To make the sector more sustainable ProFound and Sandra Kruger Associates are developing an intervention to tackle these issues in an integrated way: increasing production, achieving CSR compliance and adding value through certification and CSR marketing. To support this effort, the team visited Carmien, a rooibos farm and processor in South Africa, to identify and [Read more]

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PF brokerage service delivers steel drum packaging for Ethiopian honey suppliers

2016-11-01T16:27:56+00:00August 4th, 2016|Tags: , , |

After ProFound brokered a deal for the supply of steel drums to Ethiopia, the first container with drums for honey packaging arrived at the processing company Babichi. The empty drums came from ProFound’s partner in Europe who is interested in supplying drums in return for quality honey. The drums are crucial for Babichi and other Ethiopian honey suppliers to successfully export to Europe, because many European buyers only accept honey packed in steel drums. The use of plastic drums poses a higher risk of quality deterioration during transport and storage and they may collapse when stacked. ProFound studied various options [Read more]

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