Project update: Market entry expert for value chain work on black cardamom

2020-10-28T07:36:06+00:00October 28th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , |

Our work as a market entry expert for the project “Improving the incomes and nutrition outcomes of rural poor in Northern Kayin State” has come to an end. Workshop in Thandaunggyi township Scope of the project This project not only aimed to improve the nutritional status and WASH conditions of these farmers but also focused on improving their incomes. With the objective of improving the farmer's incomes, the project supported them to “step-up” and improve their position in agricultural value chains. ProFound´s role was to provide support as a market entry expert. We focused on black cardamom, and [Read more]

Nobel Peace Prize for the World Food Programme and the World Food Day – Let’s celebrate our #FoodHeroes!

2020-10-22T15:33:37+00:00October 16th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

With this short article, ProFound celebrates World Food Day. We reflect on the relevance of our work in the context of the World Food Programme´s Nobel Peace Prize. World Food Programme´s Nobel Peace Prize © Nobel Media. Ill. Niklas Elmehed. Last Friday, the World Food Program (WFP) received the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its ¨efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas, and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict¨. We at ProFound applaud this recognition; it [Read more]

ProFound will link Gums and Resins collectors to markets

2021-06-10T09:35:53+00:00July 29th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

ProFound is proud to announce that we recently won the tender for a programme focusing on Gums and Resins, supported by GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH Ethiopia. The GIZ Programme is called “Strengthening Drought Resilience in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lowlands of Ethiopia (SDR-ASAL)”. Amongst other objectives, the programme aims at building capacities amongst Government institutions and partners in the field of planning and natural resource management and utilization. The Gums and Resins market in Ethiopia Gums and Resins such as Frankincense, Myrrh, Gum Arabic play an important role in the daily life of many Ethiopians. [Read more]

Impacts of COVID-19 on the natural ingredients for cosmetics market

2021-11-25T07:10:13+00:00June 18th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Not a homogenous impact within the cosmetics industry: The coronavirus pandemic has forced nearly one-third of the world’s population into lockdown. During this time, consumer demand for cosmetics has decreased in general. However, if you take a closer look within the segments some are booming! While decorative cosmetics experienced a dip in demand, essential oils, hygiene and skin care segments are thriving as consumers try to improve their immunity. But what are the impacts of the COVID-19 on the natural ingredients for cosmetics market? In Europe, where the COVID 19 outbreak has made most of the victims in March [Read more]

Focus on one of the key trends in natural ingredients for cosmetics: Sustainable beauty

2021-11-25T07:24:15+00:00June 18th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , |

Sustainability remains key for European buyers of cosmetic ingredients. The same goes for consumers. European consumers are more informed about issues such as global warming and environmental threats. This trend has led organic, vegan, fair-trade, sustainable and ethically sourced cosmetics to become more mainstream. A review of Science Direct in 2019 concluded that sustainability impacts occur through all phases of a cosmetic product’s life cycle. But selection of raw materials deserves more attention as information on this topic remains scattered and diffuse. A situation that is still relevant in 2020. COVID-19 as a disruptor of the market The COVID-19 [Read more]

Workshop with farmers and traders in Myanmar to find alternative cardamom markets

2020-03-20T15:26:12+00:00March 20th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , |

Cardamom producers in Myanmar are facing challenges in accessing markets. Their main market is China, but, in recent years, prices have been dropping significantly. ProFound is supporting these producers and traders to find alternative markets. For that purpose, our consultant Jolanda van Hal travelled to Myanmar to prepare them for participation at international trade fairs. Preparing cardamom traders for trade fair participation Jolanda gave a training to the Multi-Stakeholder Platform created by SNV in the project “Improving the incomes and nutrition outcomes of rural poor in Northern Kayin State”. This training focused on different aspects related to trade fairs [Read more]

Biofach 2020 – Organic Africa Pavilion

2020-03-04T16:23:52+00:00February 26th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

During BioFach 2020, the Organic Africa Pavilion hosted 22 companies and organisations representing more than 17 African countries. We are very happy that our exhibitors evaluated two thirds of our their business leads as important. In addition, ProFound has been very busy during the fair, and not only at the Organic Africa Pavilion. “I have been to BioFach before just as a visitor, but I have to say that this is 20 times better because totally unexpected people can find you.”  Hilary Sommerlatte, Arbor Oils of Africa, exhibitor from Kenya / Frankincense oil A lot of interest for African products [Read more]

Building capacities of business support organisations in Southeast Asia

2020-01-17T12:58:50+00:00January 16th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , |

Last year, in our work for the Regional BioTrade programme from Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation we focused on building capacities of business support organisations in Southeast Asia. Our consultant Jolanda van Hal travelled to Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam in October and December last year. She worked with these business support organisations to develop their market access service portfolio. They have strong ambitions and ProFound is helping them to reach those. Myanmar Tea Association's ambitions: Take the example of the buisness support organisation such as the Myanmar Tea Association. Their aim is to put Myanmar on the map as a quality [Read more]

Workshop in Myanmar to develop market access for cardamom and turmeric

2020-01-14T08:18:02+00:00January 14th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , |

A project to fight rural poverty through selected value chains End of November ProFound's team members Bert-Jan and Geertje visited Myanmar to train the Multistakeholder platform (MSP) for cardamom and turmeric. This MSP has been established by SNV under the project “Improving the incomes and nutrition outcomes of rural poor in Northern Kayin State”. That project was implemented by a consortium of CDN-ZOA, World Concern Myanmar, CORDAID and local partners since 2016 in Thandaunggyi township in Kayin State. The project is amongst others helping the rural poor to “step-up”. It aims at improving their position in selected value chains, [Read more]

Meetings in Bosnia and Herzegovina to support Foreign Trade Chamber

2019-12-10T13:19:40+00:00December 5th, 2019|Tags: , , , , , |

Supporting the Foreign Trade Chamber to develop market intelligence This week, our senior consultant Kasper Kerver is in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for a meeting organised by the Foreign Trade Chamber (FTC) for the medicinal and aromatic plants sector. This meeting is part of a bigger project in which ProFound is active; training and supporting the Foreign Trade Chamber in BiH to improve its services to its members. During the meeting, FTC presented results of the market research on the essential oils market in the United States that they have worked on since May with ProFound's support. The research [Read more]

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