News items

Building our expertise for coffee and cocoa sectors

2023-10-12T09:27:06+00:00November 27th, 2019|Tags: , , , , |

We shared earlier this year that CBI chose ProFound to conduct their new market intellingence on coffee and cocoa sectors. An essential part of our coffee and cocoa market intelligence work for CBI is to gather first-hand information. For instance, we collect the market information through company visits and events. Visiting companies in Switzerland Lisanne Groothuis and associate consultant Gustavo Ferro went to Switzerland in November to visit companies active in coffee and cocoa sectors. Our consultants spoke with representatives of Pronatec, a sustainable sourcing company specialized in cocoa and other ingredients. They also met with micro-roaster Röstlabor, one [Read more]

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Facilitating market access for natural ingredients for cosmetics from Colombia

2019-10-04T02:32:37+00:00October 3rd, 2019|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

To support the Colombia + Competitiva (C+C) programme from Swisscontact Colombia, ProFound consultants Jolanda van Hal, Lisanne Groothuis and Gustavo Ferro are developing a roadmap for the natural ingredients for cosmetics sector in Colombia. In addition, they provide individual coaching for three projects in the C+C programme that aim to export specific natural ingredients for cosmetics; sacha inchi oil, Magdalena River nut oil and annatto extract. Our consultants spent the last few weeks in Colombia, where they organised a workshop on the European market for cosmetic ingredients for stakeholders in the Colombian sector. Moreover, they identified key challenges and opportunities in Colombian [Read more]

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ProFound in South Africa – outcomes from the CBI project

2020-03-04T09:54:53+00:00July 5th, 2019|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

CBI’s Export Programme Natural Ingredients in South Africa has been concluded. ProFound has supported CBIs activities in the natural ingredients sector in South Africa since early 2014. What have we achieved on behalf of CBI in those years? First Natural Ingredients and Cosmetics Export Strategy of South Africa Stakeholders in South Africa’s natural ingredients sector were facing the same bottlenecks and leaving good opportunities untapped. However, they didn’t work together to overcome these problems. We joined up with CBI Business Support Organisation Development expert Jim Tersteeg to change this situation. Starting with bringing these stakeholders together. Making an exporter [Read more]

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ProFound wins CBI tenders: market intelligence on cocoa and coffee sectors

2020-03-04T09:58:27+00:00June 7th, 2019|Tags: , , , , |

CBI chose ProFound to conduct their new market research on the coffee and cocoa sectors. For the next four years, our expert in coffee and cocoa, Lisanne Groothuis and Gustavo Ferro, are investigating these sectors. The aim is to strengthen the competitive position of coffee and cocoa producers and exporters. For these studies we analyse key and emerging trade flows between producing countries and the European market. We also look at the main trends in the European coffee and cocoa sectors. Using these inputs, we carefully set out all buyer requirements and give practical tips to producers and exporters. [Read more]

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Training the Foreign Trade Chamber in Market Analysis

2020-03-04T10:06:25+00:00June 5th, 2019|Tags: , , , , |

Did you know that Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has various promising products to offer to the global market? The Foreign Trade Chamber (FTC) in BiH is making sure that people around the world are aware of the opportunities that the country has to offer. Such as its range of essential oils. ProFound, through the trade promotion programme of our partner SIPPO, supports Foreign Trade Chamber. The aim is to improve the services of FTC to its members. Delivery of Market Intelligence will be a new service to help FTC's members find the best match between market needs and their [Read more]

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Export development project in Indonesia for natural ingredients

2020-03-04T10:18:49+00:00May 24th, 2019|Tags: , , , , , , |

CBI (the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries) recently launched its new export development project in Indonesia. In this project CBI cooperates with the German Import Promotion Desk (IPD) and the Indonesian Ministry of Industry. Robbie Hogervorst joined IPD and CBI's mission to launch the project. 100 companies producing and exporting essential oils, botanical extracts and seaweed extracts participated in two national workshops. During these workshops the participants learned about opportunities on the EU market and requirements to reach this market. Moreover, they heard how the project could support them to enter Europe successfully with sustainable, [Read more]

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Diving into sustainable wild collection at FairWild Forum

2020-03-02T17:52:28+00:00May 14th, 2019|Tags: , , |

Did you know that commercial wild-collection in Europe is alive and kicking? ProFound senior consultant Robbie Hogervorst participated in FairWild Forum 2019 in Budapest. During the forum he visited wild collection sites near the Hungarian-Croatian border. Here Roma collectors benefit from working for FairWild-certified operations: At the time of visit, the group was collecting wild garlic. better working conditions, better and more stable incomes and fair trade premiums to invest in community projects.   At the FairWild Forum, Robbie also presented how FairWild certification can support compliance to the Nagoya Protocol for Access and Benefit Sharing. Other speakers [Read more]

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Improving export development and promotion services to BioTrade companies

2019-06-03T11:28:41+00:00April 9th, 2019|Tags: , , , , , , |

In close cooperation with Miguel Camacho, ProFound provided a workshop on behalf of Helvetas. Together with Miguel we helped to reinforce capacities of business support organisations (BSOs) to deliver demand-driven, value-added services that promote exports of BioTrade natural ingredients. The workshop provided international best-case examples of services to companies. For example trade fair organisation, certification training, export market planning and buyer missions. In addition, the workshop linked BSOs to trade promotion organisations in their countries. This link helps BSOs to discuss how to implement these services in practice. During the workshop the BSOs designed their service portfolio and did initial [Read more]

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Marketing and Innovation 2.0: Export Marketing training at Natural Products Expo West

2019-05-24T16:18:27+00:00March 21st, 2019|Tags: , , , , , , |

Many Myanmar companies want to enter the American market. They feel their innovative and speciality products will have the best chances in this highly dynamic market. That the American market is indeed dynamic we saw during a study visit to the Natural Products Expo West trade fair in Anaheim, California. Here we joined the Helvetas Myanmar team, 6 companies and 2 business support organisations. At the same time, the show also showed how fierce the competition is. Products and marketing concepts need to be very strong to stand out in this market. ProFound consultants Jolanda van Hal and Robbie Hogervorst [Read more]

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Promoting exports of food products from Malawi

2019-07-12T07:44:37+00:00February 28th, 2019|Tags: , , , |

SMEs in Malawi are preparing to export sunflower oil, peanut butter and chili sauce, amongst others. During a workshop in Malawi, our consultant Kasper Kerver presented export opportunities. He challenged the entrepreneurs to make the most of these opportunities by developing a marketing strategy. With this support, entrepreneurs like Endrina in the picture below can scale up their business and generate more income and employment.  The workshop was part of a private sector development programme with partners Palladium and the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC). This programme improves access to markets and finance for SMEs. It also builds capacity [Read more]

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