Celebrating Our Community!

On behalf of our core team and associates, I would first of all like to thank all of our partners in our network for again a wonderful year with many achievements!

As a buyer, supplier, support organisation or BSO you allow great things to happen by sharing your expertise, your doubts and questions about the future of food and natural ingredients value chains. You give us your trust. Thank you for moving forward with us in our sustainable quest!

It’s getting colder, days are shorter and for now we leave you with the warmest community building moments we experienced this year!

Thank you for being such a vital part of our movement, for helping us grow and stay together; we couldn’t do what we do without you, and we are already looking forward to another fruitful year 2025 with you!

Bert-Jan Ottens

Director of ProFound

Linking Markets in 7 Countries: African Community in Action! 2024-2025

With seven participating countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire), and some 60 companies joining the programme, our goal is to bring these companies up to speed and ready for selected markets and create new job opportunities in each region.

How? By working with local experts and the local GIZ teams who all share that same vision of entrepreneurs becoming successful in market entry. We couldn’t be more thrilled about this new adventure, and more news to come in 2025!

Creating Bridges for Sustainable Coffee between Huila-Colombia and The Netherlands March 2024

Farmers, producers, and government agencies alike were part of this study, which marked one of the most exciting research projects in coffee that we’ve been part of! In Huila, Lisanne Groothuis and Juanita Rojas, identified opportunities for climate-friendly solutions and local private sector development, serving as a bridge between the Dutch Embassy in Bogota, RVO and the coffee sector in Huila.

InCosmetics Paris 2024: Shaping Sustainable Beauty April 2024

The global trade fair dedicated to personal care ingredients helped us learn more about one of the hottest topics nowadays: sustainable beauty. Our Market Analysis Expert, Juanita Rojas, researched the latest trends, interviewing incredible companies that are breaking notions around beauty and what it means today in the quest of sustainably.

Cambodia meets the European Market – SIAL Paris & The Netherlands 2024-2025

The warmth amongst the Cambodian companies participating in the CAPRED programme, not only helped us understand better the challenges Cambodian companies are facing, but guided us through our European Tour. We attended the SIAL Paris trade fair for orientation & study tour, and in The Netherlands met with interested buyers and support organisations.

With ProFound’s team support and in collaboration with HollandDoor, Bert-Jan Ottens had the opportunity to walk the talk with 8 Cambodian companies; from market readiness to market trading. New friendships were born and experiences shared. Thank you so much CAPREAD and the group of entrepreneurs!

A New Twist for Nigerian Ginger 2024

Collaboration has been at the heart of our efforts to address the ginger blight challenge. By working together with COLEAD, CBI, Nigerian companies, and the NEPC promotion agency, we established demo farms that became a foundation for shared learning and community-driven solutions. These farms enabled us to develop and implement a plan for good agricultural practices, focusing on managing and eradicating blight.

Food Ingredients Europe? Frankfurt November 2024

Bert-Jan Ottens and Tjalling Meijer attended the Food Ingredients Europe (FIE) trade fair to engage with participating companies from the various programmes, and to learn about the latest developments in food additives and ingredients. This trade show is one of the most significant events in the food industry, bringing together key players to showcase innovations, explore market trends, and discuss business opportunities.

Several companies involved in GIZ programme were featured at the IPD booth. Bert-Jan and Tjalling had the opportunity to meet with these companies and learn more about their activities, and talk to their potential buyers.

Together, they reconnected with existing contacts in Bert-Jan’s network, including Tuchel, Roeper, and HDDES. They also conducted short interviews for the upcoming CBI studies focused on the natural food additives sector. These interviews provided valuable insights into product developments, which CBI and ProFound plan to use for publishing new and updated studies.

?And that survey work closes the full cycle of 2024 journey, we can’t wait for what’s next!

We wish all of our partners warm and cheerful celebrations with their families for the end of the year, and all the best for a healthy and successful New Year 2025!