Linking organic Vietnamese suppliers to the EU market

2022-02-17T11:03:51+00:00October 27th, 2021|Tags: , , , , , , , |

  Meet six new Vietnamese suppliers of organic natural ingredients. From White, Black and Red Pepper, Star anise and other spices for which Vietnam is known, to coconut-based ingredients, all these suppliers have several internationally recognized sustainability certificates. Read the article below to find out more about these six companies and immerse yourself in the world of pure, natural, and organic spices, coconut products and nuts. Meet the suppliers - Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8iIVwUyN_w Linking organic Vietnamese suppliers to the EU market As part of our long-term collaboration with the Centre for Rural Economic Development (CRED), ProFound is [Read more]

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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]

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South East Asian producers getting ready for BioTrade exports

2019-02-07T14:16:57+00:00December 21st, 2018|Tags: , , , , , , , |

ProFound experts Robbie Hogervorst and Aafke van Sprundel conducted a series of market entry strategy trainings in Kuala Lumpur, Yangon and Mandalay for the Helvetas Regional BioTrade Project South East Asia. More than 20 Vietnamese, Lao and Myanmar companies were trained and supported to develop their first market entry strategy. A second objective was to build capacities of business associations to start developing market entry services to their members.    During the workshop, the participants were guided to define how they wanted to position themselves on the market. Do they want to be a high end, a sustainable, ethical, unique [Read more]

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2 ethical organic buyers, 8 suppliers, 3 countries: Buyer mission shows Biotrade potential in South East Asia

2019-04-12T12:59:42+00:00October 23rd, 2018|Tags: , , , , , |

ProFound senior consultant Robbie Hogervorst joined the Helvetas buyer mission to South East Asia to identify business opportunities for Biotrade products and actions needed to make business happen. Organic buyers Traditional Medicinals (USA) and Organic Herb Trading Company (UK) met with companies from Vietnam and Laos. Organic Herb Trading company also visited suppliers in Myanmar. BioTrade products in Southeast Asia  The main focus of the mission was on suppliers producing indigenous spices and organically produced local varieties of commodity spices, such as turmeric and ginger. The buyers also explored options for medicinal and aromatic plants and local herbal medicine traditions. In general, there [Read more]

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Trading prospects for Biotrade suppliers after match-making with international buyers

2019-04-16T10:48:42+00:00December 20th, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

Susan Curtis was one of three buyers on the buyer’s mission for the SECO-funded Regional BioTrade Project Southeast Asia with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation facilitated by ProFound. As Director of Natural Health at Neal’s Yard Remedies, Susan visited Myanmar and Vietnam and explored the possibilities to cooperate with suppliers of BioTrade ingredients. The mission inspired her to consider some of these ingredients for the products of Neal’s Yard Remedies, including both high quality spice essential oils and a cosmetic ingredient that would be new to Europe and has the potential to lead to some exciting and innovative new product development. “I was [Read more]

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The business case for BioTrade markets

2018-06-26T12:34:59+00:00October 31st, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

ProFound’s consultants  Bert-Jan Ottens and Sacha Handgraaf supported a Helvetas training on sustainable certification schemes in the context of the Regional BioTrade Project Southeast Asia with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation. The Helvetas country teams came together in Bangkok to discuss certification trajectories for the tea, spices and thanaka value chains. This will help the teams to design strong business cases for BioTrade with business support and private sector actors in Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. During the two day-training the teams learned more about: Food safety and sustainability certifications relevant for the international market How to make the link between the BioTrade principles [Read more]

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Market Orientation @Vitafoods Asia in Singapore on BioTrade marketing

2017-09-21T08:00:18+00:00September 21st, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

Within the scope of our work on the Regional BioTrade Project Southeast Asia with Helvetas, our senior consultant Robbie Hogervorst supported a Helvetas training mission in Singapore. During the training, selected companies gained insight into their potential to export BioTrade products; learning about buyer and market requirements, BioTrade market trends, and possible trade channels. The companies also learned how to translate their new insights into their marketing plan: How to develop a suitable product, how to promote it, how to price it? This is part of our activities in Business Planning (see our solutions page for more information). During the [Read more]

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Finalising the inception phase of the Regional BioTrade Project

2017-08-16T10:31:31+00:00May 3rd, 2017|Tags: , , , , |

Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and ProFound collaborated closely on an Export Potential Assessment (EPA) in the Regional BioTrade project in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar). Since September 2016, ProFound consultants and Helvetas national teams have identified bottlenecks and possible interventions through desk research, fieldwork and verification missions. ProFound worked together with the Helvetas teams in researching the possibilities for BioTrade. Their help with the desk research, field work and reporting has been very useful in the completion of the inception phase of the project. - Tuan, Le Anh, Deputy Project Manager, Regional BioTrade Project Southeast Asia, Helvetas Vietnam The combination [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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