Marketing Neglected and Underutilised Species success factors of a market and consumer oriented approach

by Klaas Koolman

Koolman, K. (2014): Marketing neglected

and Underutilised Species.

Success factors of a market and consumer

oriented approach, Berlin, Germany.

This work mention of proprietary names, product or

company names do not constitute endorsement of the

product or company and are given only for information.

Koolman Consulting

www.koolmanconsulting.com

Berlin, Germany

CONTENTSIntroductIon 4

What Is the scope of thIs artIcle? 4

What Is a nus? 5

Why are they nus? 6

BenefIts of marketIng nus 7

local producers 7

private sector 8

consumers 8

three steps of dIscoverIng the potentIal of underutIlIsed specIes 8

Benefits 8

target group 9

relevance 9

gettIng the tImIng rIght 10

Differentstagesofmarketmaturity 10

Inwhichstageismypotentialmarket? 11

AtwhatstagecanIenterthemarket? 11

HowcanIdesignmyproducttofitthemarket? 12

Ways to enter the market 13

research & design 13

Markettesting 13

success factors 13

Benefits 14

timing 14

Story 15

audience 16

Brand 16

conclusIons 19

INTrOduCTION Biodiversity, food security, nutrition, health, economicdevelopment – all these topics are high on the agenda ofnumerousorganisationsaroundtheworldandarethegoalsofglobalcampaigns,initiatives,taskforcesandre-searchprojects.Andtheyallhaveonethingincommon:theyareallconcernedwith theproductswegain fromagriculturalcultivation,thebusinesswecreateoutofit,andthewayweconsumethem.

Yetstilltoday,foodsecurityisnotyetagiven,biodiver-sity is regressing,people indevelopingcountriesdon’thave access to sufficient nutrition, and populations inindustrialisedcountriessufferfromdiseasescausedbyexcessiveconsumptionofcertain foods.Andthis isallinterlinked.

It has all beenmentionedbefore. It’s not new.Butweneedtothinkaboutitagain.

There are an estimated 400,000 plant species on thisplanet.Over20,000speciesareedible.150speciesarecommercialised.Butonly3cropsareusedtomeet50%ofthedailyworldwidecaloriedemand:maize,wheatandrice.95%ofourdemandismetbyonly30species.1

Duringthe20thcentury,accordingtoFAO,“75percentofplantgeneticdiversityhasbeenlostasfarmersworldwi-dehavelefttheirmultiplelocalvarietiesandlandracesforgeneticallyuniform,high-yieldingvarieties”2.

What about the remaining species? They are basicallyneglected,underutilised,notcommerciallyusedor for-gotten.Theyarecommonlycalled:‘neglectedandunde-rutilisedspecies’.

Weshouldnotbesatisfiedwiththeexistenceoftheabo-ve mentioned issues.

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the convention on Biological di-versity(CBD),theGlobalPlanofActionfortheConservationandSustainable Utilization of PlantGenetic Resources for Foodand Agriculture (FAO), and theconsultative group on Internati-onalAgriculturalResearch(CGI-AR) are just some examples of global initiatives that focus onresearch and promotion of theutilisationofNUS.

WhaT IS ThE SCOpE Of ThIS arTIClE?We have a chance to delay oreven stop the loss of biodiver-sity and at the same time in-crease food security, improvenutrition in developing coun-tries,providenewhealth ingre-dients to populations in indus-trialised countries, and createsustainable livelihoods for pro-ducersinthecountriesoforigin. However,weneedsomehelp.Helpfromtheabovemen-tioned neglected and underutilised plant species.

Weneedtoremember theknowledgeofancientcultu-res,weneedtoaccesstheinformationaboutthehugevarietyof edible species,weneed togetcreative, andmostofallweneedtothinkabouthowtosuccessfullymarketneglectedandunderutilisedspeciestodifferentconsumer groups.

This article is about the marketing of neglected and

underutilisedspecies.Itisaboutthesuccessfactorsthatneedtobeconsideredwhenformulatingproduct strategies and when put-ting plans into action. this article willlookatthedifferentmaturitystagesofpotentialmarkets, therolethepotentialconsumerplaysinthecommercialisationofNUS,the options in product design,thewaystoenteramarket,andfinally the communication thatneedstoaccompanyit.

Wewillbriefly touchon thede-finitionofwhatNUSarebutwillnotdeeplyinvestigatethescien-tificliterature.

Wewillonlyscratchthesurfaceof why species are neglectedand underutilised and we will not review all the theoretical workthathasbeendoneonthestruc-turalsideofthecommercialisati-onofNUS.

Furthermore, this article doesnotdealwith theEUnovel foodregulation and the barriers this regulation constitutes for thecommercialisationofNUS.

WhaT IS a NuS?Whatisaproperlevelofutilisation?IsitOKtospeak aboututilisationatall,whentalkingaboutnature’sspe-cies?Merelyaskingthosequestionsshowshowdifficultitistofindtherightdefinitionofwhatanunderutilisedspeciesis.Inthecontextoftheabovementionedglobalissues,internationalresearchhasagreeduponadefinitionofNUSas“thosespecieswithunder-exploitedpotentialforcontributiontofoodsecurity,health(nutritional/medi-

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1 „What is agrobiodiversity” in: “Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge”. FAO, 2004. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5609e/y5609e00.pdf 2. Ibid.

cinal),incomegeneration,andenvironmentalservices”.3

SynonymstoNUSare‘orphancrops’,meaningtheycur-rentlyhavenocropexpertsorresearcheffortsgoingintothem,or ‘minorcrops’,which refers to theirminorsta-tusrelativetothesocalled‘globalcrops’(suchaswhe-at,maize,rice,etc.).NUSaresometimesreferredtoas‘promising crops’, for example in emergingmarkets orbecause of previously unrecognised value traits, or as‘nichecrops’duetotheirmarginalimportanceinproduc-tionsystemsandeconomies.4

Certainly, there are different levels of detail which canbeemployedtodefineandclassifyNUS.This includesgeographiccharacterisation(someNUSmightbeunde-rutilisedinonepartoftheworld,butnotinotherparts),economicvaluecharacterisation(publicvaluevs.priva-te value), and characterisation regarding their potential(observedeconomicvaluevs.potentialeconomicvalue),whichagaincanvarydependingongeographiclocationorotherstructuralfactorssuchastheexistenceofsupplychainsandknowledge.5

NUSallhaveacoupleofthingsincommon:firstandfo-remosttheyprovideunrealisedpotentialforcontributiontohumanwelfare,inparticulartoincomegenerationforpeopleindevelopingcountries,foodsecurityandnutriti-on,andthereductionof‘hiddenhunger’.

Theyoftenplayan importantrole intheculturalherita-geoftheirplacesoforigin(e.g.theAmaranthinCentralAmerica)andthustheyoftenhavealonghistoryoflocalproduction.Theyhaveshownhighadaptioncapabilitiestobiologicalnichesandhenceplayanimportantroleinecosystemsaroundtheworld.Generally,theyaretraditionallyusedinlocaldiets.Howe-vertheirnutritional,culinary,andmedicinalpropertiesarelittle-knownorunder-appreciated,whichresultsinthemreceivinglittleattention,especiallyfromconsumers.

Andthisiswheretheirpotentiallies.Intheend,itwillbetheconsumerwho issupposed toappreciateanedib-leplantspeciesoraproductderivedfromit.Already,a

lotofresearchhasgoneintowhatneedstobedonetofostertheutilisationofcertainspecies,alotofworkhasbeendoneonidentifyingthereasonsthathinderutilisa-tionofcertainspecies,andalothasbeenwrittenaboutthenecessarystructuresthatneedtobeinplaceinordertofacilitateutilisationofneglectedspecies. Let’s reverse this approach: let’s first askwhat and towhomarethenutritional,medicinal,orculinarybenefitsofNUSandthenstarttheprocessofutilisationfromthere.

Why arE ThEy NuS?Before looking at the benefits of marketing NUS, wearegoingtotouchuponthereasonswhysomespeciesmadeittothetopofthelist,whilethousandsofothersareplayingaminorrole,leadinganeglectedexistenceoraren’tutilisedatall.

Themostcommontheoryallegesacombinationofac-cidental and targeted manmade selection. over the last coupleofthousandyears,serendipityandchanceselec-tionledtothefactthatsomecropsgotcultivatedmoreoftenthanothers.6

Doubtless,geographicalandclimatefactorshavebeeninfluencing this selection process. Once certain cropsgotaheadstartoverothers,theyreceivedmorescien-tificattention,selectionandbreedingfocusedonthesecrops, and theybecame tradedmoreoften thanothercrops.Finally,themechanisationandlaterindustrialisati-onofagricultureleadtothefocusononlyadozencrops,mainly driven by agricultural corporationswhoprovideseeds,fertilizers,andpesticidesfromasinglesource.7

Butnotonlyscience,optimisation,andindustrialisationinfluencedcropselection.Also,culturalbeliefsinfluencedcrop popularity, such as the prohibition of amaranth in

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3 Jaenicke, H. / Höschle-Zeledon, I. (2006): Strategic Framework for Underutilised Plant Species: With special reference to Asia and the Pacific, and to Sub-Saharan Africa, Bioversity International, p. 5

4 What are neglected and underutilised species” on http://www.cropsforthefuture.org/about-us/what-are-neglected-and-underutilised-species/, 11.05.2014. 5 Gruère, G. / Giuliani, A. et al. (2006): Marketing Underutilised Plant Species for the Benefit of the Poor: A Conceptual Framework, IFPRI, p. 6-7.

6 Janick, J. (1991): New fruits from old genes. Acta Horticulturae 297, p. 25-42. 7 Jaenicke, H. / Höschle-Zeledon, I. (2006): Strategic Framework for Underutilised Plant Species: With special reference to Asia and the Pacific,

and to Sub-Saharan Africa, Bioversity International, p. 7.

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CentralAmericaby theSpanishconquerorsor thepro-motionofpotatoesbyPrussianrulersinthe18thcentury.8

Ontopofthis,themarketingmachineryoffoodcorpora-tionsputthebootintocropvarietybypushingindustri-alfoodsbasedonhigh-yieldcashcrops,thuschangingconsumer demand in both developed and developingcountries.

BENEfITS Of markETINg NuSThereisalotofresearchonNUSwhichconsiderstopicssuchastheimpactofutilisationandcommercialisationofNUSaswellasthespecificationofthedifferenttypesofbenefitsarising from thecommercialisationofNUS.Herewewillonlybrieflytouchuponthedifferentdimen-sionsandcharacterisationsresultingfromthatresearch.

Like thecharacterisationofNUSand thedefinitionsofNUS, thebenefitsofmarketingNUScanalsobeana-lysed from different viewpoints. We can classify themaccordingtothegeneralfieldofimpact,suchastheim-pact on food security, biodiversity, nutrition, health, oreconomicdevelopment.Further,characterisationcanbeappliedalongthevaluechain,classifyingthebenefitsbytheir impactonacertainentityof thevaluechain (e.g.producers,resellers,manufacturers).

Itisalsoquiteimportanttolookattheplaceofimpact.Most of the neglected and underutilised species arefound in developing countries. However, developedcountries alsoofferopportunities formarketingcertainforgotten crops.An example of this is the rise ofKale(Brassicaoleracea)asa“superfood”intheUSduringthelastcoupleofyears.9

WhileKalehasbeenatraditionalpartofthecentralandnorthern European diet for centuries, this species hasreceivedatremendouspopularitypushinthelastcou-pleofyears.Thisprovidesevidenceofthepotentialforlocalproducerstobenefitfrombothlocalandinternati-

onalmarkets–inbothinthesouthernandnorthernhe-misphere.

local producers

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Sustainable livelihoods for local producers will be the

mostimportantbenefitofsuccessfullymar-ketingNUS,apartfrom increasing

biodiversityndsecuringnu-trition.

“Inmany traditi-onal farming

s y s t emswor ld-wide,

agro-bio-d i v e r s i t y

plays a fun- damental role in the

livelihoods of the ruralpoor. „It is widely recognized

that embedding use of neglected andunderutilisedspecies(NUS)intotraditionalhousehold

systemsoftheresource-poor—betheysmall-scalefar-mersorcollectors—holdssignificantpotentialfor:impro-

vingfoodsecurityandachievingmorebalancednutritionfortheruralandurbanpoor(socialbenefits);conservingbiodiversity and stabilizing agro-ecosystems (environ-mentalbenefits);aswellasgeneratingincomefortheru-ralpoorandcreatingemploymentalongthevaluechain(VC)(economicbenefits).“10

private sectorApartfromtheabovementionedsignificanceofNUSforlocalproducers,NUScanalsoconstitutearelevantsour-ceofbusinessforthelocalprivatesector,suchasresel-lers,theprocessingindustry,orlocalcompaniesmarke-tingtheproducts(internallyaswellasinternationally).the commercialisationofNUSalsocreatesopportunitiesforinternationalbusinessandinternationaldevelopmentaid,basedon thecreationof sustainable localbusinesses.ExamplesincludethemarketingofaGuayusa-basedteaproduct(RunaLLC,USA)intheUS,madefromsustain-ablygrownGuayusaleafsfromtheEcuadorianrainforest11 ,orMoringaproducts(Moringaoleifera)fromAfricaas“superfoodbars”(KuliKuliInc.,USA)intheUS12 or as a foodsupplementinGermany(africrops!GmbH,Germa-ny).13 . Theseproductssuccessfullyintegratelocalpro-ducers,manufacturers,exporters,importersandmarke-tingcompaniesinthetargetmarket,andbenefitthemall.

ConsumersCurrent research and discussion about NUS primarilylooksatthebenefitstodifferentstakeholdergroups,withafocusonthepartiesinvolvedintheearlystagesofthevaluechainofNUSproductionaswellastheoverallen-vironmentaloreconomicbenefitsofthecommercialisa-tionofNUS.

Herewewouldliketoturnthetablesandprimarilyask:“what’sinitfortheconsumer?”Thisisexactlytheques-tion that, in theend,will determine thesuccessof thecommercialisationofaneglectedspecies:somebody’sgot tobuy itandsomebody’sgot topay for it. If there

8 Mann, Ch. C.: “How the potato changed the world.” on: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/, 11.05.2014.9 http://www.danstone.me/what-the-kale-the-story-data-behind-kales-meteoric-rise/

10 Will, M. (2008): Promoting Value Chains of Neglected and Underutilised Species, GFU, p. 2.11 http://www.runa.org12 http://www.kulikulibar.com13 http://www.africrops.de

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isnoopportunitytoturnthespecies intoasustainablebusiness,thenweshouldinsteadconsiderthecommer-cialisationofthespeciesasanactofdevelopmentaid.

The above mentioned reasons for and benefits ofmarketing NUS are all important and of course arethe main driver and justification for marketing NUS.

To successfullymarket NUS, the first question shouldalways consider how the consumer benefits. And the-sebenefitsmightbemanifold.Therecanbebenefitsforlocalproducersontheoneside,suchaseasiercultiva-tion,harvest,orprocessingthanothercrops,highernu-trition levels, healthier ingredientsor higher income;orbenefits forconsumers in importingcountries,suchasexoticflavourandhealthclaims.Itisimportanttoanalysethebenefitsofthespeciesthatistobecommercialised.Andthisshouldalwaysbethefirststepoftheprocess.

Three STepS of diScoveriNG The poTeNTial of UNderUT-iliSed SpecieSBenefitsAsmentionedabove,thenameofthegameinmarketingunderutilisedspeciesistofindoutwhattheplantprovi-destotheconsumer.ThisholdsregardlessofwhoitisintendingtocommercialiseNUS,be it localproducers,local companies in the countries of origin, importingcompanies in target markets, or NGOs. Whoever it iswhoattemptstomarketNUSshouldinvestigatewhatthebenefitsoftheplantorproductmightbe.

Theycanbemanifold:tangiblebenefits,suchasnutritio-nalbenefitsandhealthbenefits,orintangiblebenefitsre-

latedtohumanneedsthatarehigherupinthehierarchyofneeds,suchasself-expression,distinction,ormeetingaltruistic motives.

Let’staketheexampleofMoringaoleifera,abushyplantthatgrowsinmostpartsofthetropics.Interestingly,thehabitatofMoringaisalmostcongruentwiththeregionswhere malnutrition is most prevalent. moringa provides morethanoneoftheabovementionedbenefits.Moringaisknownasoneofthemostnutritiousplantsoftheworld,abletofightmalnutritioninseveralways.Italsoprovidescertainhealthbenefits,asitcontainsahugeamountofvitamins,minerals,andantioxidants.Furthermore,pro-ductsmadeoutofMoringaorcontainingMoringacanbedistinctive,thusprovidingthebenefitofdistinctiontotheconsumerandifmarketedintherightway,altruisticmotivesmightalsobesatisfied.

In a nutshell: one plant can provide different benefitsforconsumers,however,notallbenefitswillbeequallyimportant toall targetgroups,andhencenot relevant,whichbringsustostepnumbertwo–thetargetgroups.

Target groupAsseenabove,benefitsarenotbenefits toeverybody.people in developing countries might appreciate the nutritiousvaluesofaplant,whereasthesamegroupofpeoplelivingabroad-thushavingaccesstofoodsthatareperceivedasbetter -mightnotbe interested in thenutritionalbenefitsofthesameplant.Alternatively,nativeinhabitantsofanindustrialisedcountrymightappreciatethehealthbenefitsofaplantthatisconsideredas‘animalfodder’(e.g.Moringaoleifera)inotherpartsoftheworldinawaythatlocalconsumerscannot.

So,potentialproductbenefitsmustalwaysbeanalysedin connection with the potential target group. Benefit plus target group leads to relevance. examp-le?Whyareyoustillreadingthisarticle?Well,becauseyou’vegotthefeeling,thatitisrelevanttoyou!

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!relevanceRelevanceactsasthestrongestinfluencerinbuyingdeci-sions, indeed relevance is the reason.Andultimately, thebuyingdecisionisthemostimportantelementinthepro-cessofmarketingNUS.

Fordecadesnow,marketingtheoryandpracticehavestu-diedmarketsinanattempttoclusterandtocountconsu-mersandapplysocio-demographictraits.Theyhavetriedassigningattributesandcharacteristicstopotentialconsu-mers,attemptingtoconcludetheirneedsbasedondemo-graphicattributes.

Wenowknowthatthereisashortcut:relevance. relevan-ceisasubjectivefeelingthatoriginatesfromthepersonalcircumstancesofthepotentialconsumer.Relevanceis in-dependentofage,gender,profession,educationorotherclassic demographic factors. Relevance originates frompersonal interest, individual problems, challenges, peer-groups,trends,word-of-mouth,andotherfactors,suchasstageoflife,whichagainhasnothingtodowithage.

For example, Açai (Euterpe oleracea) the not-so-neglec-ted-anymoresuperfruitfromtheAmazonas,hashadaveryhigh relevance for indigenous inhabitants of the Amazo-nasregionforcenturiesforitsnutritiousproperties.Itthenbecame popular amongst surfers at Brazilian beaches,whentheywerelookingforahealthyandnutritiousfoodtoprovidethemwithenergytokeepsurfing.Alreadywecanseethattheoneandthesamefruit,whichisvaluedforthesamebenefit(nutritionalbenefit),hasadifferentrelevancetodifferenttargetgroups.Eventually,Açaigotmarketedasa“superfood”toindustrialisedcountriessuchastheUSandtheEU, again to a completely different target group thantheonewhofirstuseditasapartoftheir traditionaldiet.In industrialised countries consumers appreciate Açai foritshealthyingredients,whichtheybelievewillhelpagainstagingorwithweight-loss.Again,acompletelydifferentsetofbenefits, adifferent targetgroup,and thus relevant forcompletelydifferentreasons.

Consequently,everybodyinvolvedinmarketingneglec-tedandunderutilisedspeciesatwhateverstageof theprocessshouldbeabletonamethereasonwhythepro-ductisrelevant,andtowhom.

Tosumitup:weneedtodiscoverthepotentialbenefit,checkitwithapotentialtargetgroup,and,mostimport-antly,makesurethatthisparticularbenefitisrelevant.

gETTINg ThE TImINg rIghTdifferent stages of market maturityWhatdoesthatmean?Let’strytodescribethiswithoutgoingintothedetailofthetheoryofdiffusionofinnova-tionswithinmarkets.First,wewilltakealookatmarketmaturity.Fromaseller’spointofview,thelevelofmarketmaturityisdeterminedbythepotentialtoachieveadditi-onalrevenue/salesovertime.

Marketmaturityislowinsocalledintroductionmarketsor innovators markets. The audience are mostly inno-vators,themarketissmall,pricesareusuallycomparablyhigh,andsalesarelowasisthecompetition.However,thepotentialtoachieveadditionalsalesisstillveryhigh.Less so in the next stage, the growthmarkets, wherethe audience,mostly early adopters, already is bigger,pricesarestillhigh,salesareexpandingandcompetition is rising.

Closebeforereachingsaturation(thepointwhere100%ofpotentialcustomerbasearecustomers) themarketsexperiencethestageofmaturity,withasocalled“earlymajority”of consumersbuying theproduct,where sa-les areat theirpeakandcompetition is stillmoderate.Fromthispointonwardsthechanceofachievingaddi-tionalsalesdeclinesandthemarketshowsfirstsignsofsaturation.

Thenextstageisthesaturationphase,wherethe“latemajority”ofconsumersfinallyadoptaproduct,themar-ketsizeisnowatitspeak,pricesbegintodecline,thusdecreasing sales volume, and the competition is high.This is also usually the phase, where a lot of B- andC-brandsandme-too-productsenterthemarket.

Thelaststageisthemarketdecline,whenevenlaggardsarestartingtobuyaproduct,pricesandsalesaredrop-pingandcompetitionstartsdyingoff.

Why is this theoryofmarket saturation and innovationdiffusionimportanttomarketingneglectedandunderu-tilised species?Asmentioned earlier, relevance is the crucial successfactorformarketingNUS,however,marketingNUScanbecomequitedifficultifthereisnotyetanexistingmar-ket,orifthemarketissaturatedorevenindecline.Hen-ce,itisvitaltoknowatwhichstageapotentialmarketisatandwhenacompanycanenterthemarket.

In which stage is my potential market?Tofindoutinwhichstageamarketis,weneedtolookforthe following information.Has theNUSbeenmarketedbefore,andifso,inwhatkindofway?Wasitcommercia-lised as an ingredient or as a stand-alone product? Who isalreadymarketingthespecificNUSandwhere?Howmanyplayersareinvolved,howdevelopedarethevaluechains,andhowmanypossibleconsumersexist?Someofthesequestionsmightbeeasytoanswerwhileothersmayrequireintensiveresearchormarketanalysis.

Agoodindicatorforthematurityofamarketisthenum-berofplayersalreadyinthebusiness(onthemarketingsideofit).Generally,veryearlymarketsforNUSshow1-3highlyspecialisedplayerstryingtobuildamarketbysee-dingearlyproductsmeetingveryspecificneedsofinno-vators,whoareeitherbraveenoughtotryanewproduct

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Thesameappliestoaçai.undoubtedly,themarketinBra-zilisatamaturestage,whereasineuropeitisatinnova-tionstage.Otherdifferencesarealsoapparent.Mostofthetimewearetalkingaboutaproductthatisconsumeddiffe-rentlyindifferenttargetmarkets.Nativemarketsoftenuse NUSasabasic ingredient in theirdiet,whereas in fo-reign target markets, NUS constitute a componentof a certainproduct. Thisbringsus toanotherdimen-sion of the marketing for underutilised species: the product design.

how can I design my product to fit the market?Productdesign,tomostmarketers,isaboutthelookandfeelofaproduct.Butactually it ismore.When talkingaboutproductdesign,weareactuallytalkingmorebro-adlyabouttheinherentfeaturesthatmakeaproductre-levanttoacertaintargetgroup.Basically,itisaboutwhattheproductcandofortheconsumerandhow.Keepingthatinmind,wecannowlinkthingstogetherbyconnec-ting the “relevance” and “market stage” approaches.

WheneverwewanttomarketNUSweshouldknowwhatmakes theproduct relevant for the consumerbut alsoatwhatstagethepotentialmarketis.Let’slookatsomeexamples.

Quinoa(Chenopodiumquinoa),onceanancientgrain,hasreceivedapopularityboostoverthepastcoupleofyears andisnowverypopularinnorthernAmericaandEurope.ThemarketintheUSandEUcertainlyisatagrowthstage(stillwithsomepotential,asnotallpotentialconsumersknowabout anduseQuinoa). Theproduct itself is the

actual grain. In most cases it is not processed or incorporated into another product. the product de-sign is simple. It is basically thenutritional value of Quinoa thatmakesitrelevantto the consumer. Further, thereare some tar-get groups that appreciate the fact that it is a gluten-freegrain”.We are now slowly startingto see Quinoa based products

such as Quinoa pasta or snack bars that incorporateQuinoa.

It is the other way around with products such asAçai, Acerola (Malpighia glabra), Noni (Morinda citri-folia L.) Maca (Lepidium meyenii) and any other “superfoods”.Mostofthemareincorporatedintootherproducts,thusenhancingtheseproductsandprovidingadditional value through additional benefits. The pureproduct itself, inmost cases is not relevant to consu-mers.Often,thisisbecauseitisimpracticalorinconve-nientforthemtouse.Inthecaseoftheabovementionedsuperfoods,it’sthesupposedhealthbenefitoftheplantthatmakes itattractiveasan ingredient. Inthecaseofpage 18

orarehighlyconvincedofitsbenefits.Thesefewplayerssharethemarketamongstthemselves.

Marketsat“innovator”or“introduction”stageoftenshowahighly fragmentedmarketsharestructurewith lotsofdifferentplayers,mostoftenwithonlysmallmarketsha-res of around 5%. In thesemarkets, the top 3 playersmightonlyaccountfor30%ofthemarketshare,withtheremaining70%distributedbetweenmanysmallplayers.

More mature markets at the “growth” or “saturation”phasepresentadifferentpicture.At thisstage3-5bigplayersaccount for 80%of themarket share,with theremainingplayersonlyholding20%.

Indecliningmarkets,C-brandsfinallygetwashedaway,with only the top brands remaining. You don’t usuallywanttoenterdecliningmarketswithaproductbasedonNUS.Inanycase,giventhatthedefinitionof“underutili-sed”productsrequiresthattherehasn’tyetbeensigni-ficantcommercialisation,it’squiteunlikelytoencountermarketsforNUSthatareinthisdecliningstage.

at what stage can I enter the market?Commercialisationofneglectedandunderutilisedspe-ciesmeansgroundbreakingwork.Thiscertainlyappliestothevaluechainandsourcingsideofit,butpotentiallyeven more so to the commercialisation side. In most ca-ses,themarketsforNUSareeithercurrentlynon-exis-tent(hencetheunderutilisation)ortheyareataveryearlystage,suchasthe“innovation”or“introduction”phase.Again,itisimportanttokeepinmindthatacertainplantmightbeverypopularinoneregion,butnotusedatallinotherregions,meaningthattheremightbeamarketintheregionoforiginbutnotelsewhere,ortheotherwayaround. Moringa oleifera is again a good example foranunderutilisedplantthat isverypopular insouthandsouth-eastAsiaasavegetable,butnotsointhenorthernhemisphere. Consequently, while we could regard the“home”marketasamaturemarket,thepossiblenewtar-getmarketsofthenorthernhemispherewouldbeatthe“innovation”stage.

Quinoa forexample, it’s thenutritional valueandfillingqualitythatmakesitattractiveasasidedish.

Tofindtherightproduct/marketfitweneedtolookattheconsumerneedstogetherwiththestageofmarketma-turity.the newer and more exotic a product to a certain consumergroup is, themorebasic theactualproductmightbe. Inan innovatormarket,peoplemightbewil-lingtoadoptaproductevenifitisnotyetveryelaborateorsophisticated.Earlyadoptersgrapplewithinnovativeproducts andconvincedusers are likely to spread thewordaboutaninterestingproduct.ThemorethatanewandinnovativeproductoringredientfromaNUSspreadsin amarket, themore interesting it becomes for otherconsumergroups.However,theearlymajorityofconsu-merswillingtoadoptanewideaneedtobeconvincedbygoodproductdesign.Atthisstageofmarketmaturity,inmostcases it isnotsufficientanymoreto justprovi-dethebasicingredient.Theneglectedandunderutilisedspeciesneedtobeincorporatedintomoreconvenientorhandyproducts.Butagain,thisdependsontheinherentfeaturesofthebasicingredient,asseenwiththeQuinoaexample. If theproduct itself is thereasonwhyconsu-mersareadopting it, thenthere isnoneedtocreateafancyproductoutofit.

ThekeyistofigureoutwhetherNUSwouldbestserveasaningredientorasastand-aloneproduct.Inthefollo-wingparagraphs,we’llbetouchinguponhowtoenteramarketwithanewproduct.

WayS TO ENTEr ThE markETresearch & designInanidealsituation,acompanyshouldnotenteramarketwith a new product without thorough research. product designshouldbebasedonquantitativeandqualitativemarketresearch.Productdevelopmentshouldfollowthefindingsofthemarketresearch.However,inmostofthecases,whencommercialisingNUS,neithertimenormo-neywillbesufficienttorealisepropermarketresearch.Hence,theremustbeotherwaystofindoutwhatislikelytoactuallyworkforamarket.

market testingMarket testing is a commonmethod to find a suitablesolutionforacertaintargetmarket.Markettestingcanberealisedonasmallscalebytestinganewingredientoranewproductconceptwithacertaingroupofconsumers.Iftheyrespondpositivelythenproductioncanbescaledup.Markettestingmightalsobeagoodwaytoattractnew partners or investors. once a product concept is out onthemarketandvisible,itismucheasierforpotentialbusinesspartnerstoevaluatetheirinvolvement.Market testing also includes using themeansof com-municationsandpublicrelationstotesthowthepublicwould respond to a certain product concept. producers

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shouldnotbe afraid that bydoing this theywill revealprivateinformationtopotentialcompetitorsorencoura-gethemtoappearonthescene.Inmostofthecases,thepioneerwillhaveastrategicadvantage in termsofknowledgeandtime.

SuCCESS faCTOrSAsdiscussedabove,therearedifferentfactorsthatcon-tributetothepotentialofNUSbeingmarketedsuccess-fully.Furthermore,wehaveseenthatitisvitaltoidentifyifthereisevenamarketforacertainNUSorNUS-ba-sedproductatall.Thistargetmarketusuallycanbedescribedwithregardstoitsmaturitylevel.However,therearefiveimportantfactorsthatwilldetermineifamarket-orienteddevelopmentofNUSwillbesuccessfulor not.

BenefitsAs previously mentioned, the cultivation, processingandmarketingofNUSmustbebeneficialtoatleastonegroupwithintheprocesstomakeitworkasamarket-ba-sedapproach.Themorepeopleandgroupsthatcanbe-nefitfromNUSandthemarket-orienteddevelopmentofNUS,thebetter.

Aboveall,thereistheeconomicbenefitofamarket-ori-entedapproach.Theeconomicbenefitsencouragefar-mers,traders,andindustriestogetinvolvedandinvestintotheproductionandmarketingofNUSandNUS-ba-sedproducts.Ifthereisnoeconomicbenefitforanybodywithinthewholevaluechain,thenweshouldreallytalkaboutanactofconservationofNUSthanmarket-basedfacilitation.Whatwouldthosebenefitsbe?nus possess a couple ofcharacteristicsthatmaketheminteresting.Theyoftenplayavitalroleinthelivelihoodstrategiesanddietsofruralorurbanhouseholds.SomeNUShavelowinputneeds,enablingresource-poorfarmerstoventureintoproduc-tion. The perception of someNUShave also changedamongsttargetgroups,otherthanthefarmersgrowingthem, from “food for the poor” into interesting, nutriti-ous,andnovel food ingredients forconsumersaround

theworld.Let’s take theMaca root (Lepidiummeyenii)asanexample.MacahasbeencultivatedforcenturiesintheAndesforitsnutritiousvaluesbyindigenousgroups.However,justrecently,Macabecameoneofthemostin-terestingandhighdemandingredients,especiallyfornu-traceuticalsandsupplements,asMacahasbeenfoundtohavepositiveeffectsonthewholebody,thepsyche,andmayhelpwithsexualdysfunctions.ThusMacapro-ductionhas increaseddrastically in thespecific regionoforigin(aroundLakeJunin,Peru)andledtoincreasedincomeforlocalproducers.

TosuccessfullymarketNUSatleastonebenefitmustbeidentified.Apartfromthefactthattherehastobeatleastoneeconomicbenefit,asmentionedabove,thereneedstobeatleastonecrucialproductbenefit.Thosecanbenutritiousvalues,“exotic”image,fairtradefeatures,spe-cialqualitypropositions,orexclusivity.Thegreater thenumber of crucial benefits that come together in oneproduct,thegreaterthechanceoftheNUSbecomingacommercial success.

Timing Getting the timing right is an important factor for suc-cessfullymarketingNUS.Asdiscussedearlier,marketshavedifferentstagesofmaturity.Perdefinition,NUSare“neglected” and “underutilised” and we can thereforeassumethatatthemomentwestartamarket-orientedapproachofutilisationofNUSnomarketexists.Howe-ver,that’snotalwaysthecase.Aswehaveseen,inmostof the casesNUS are being cultivated and used in atleastsomepartsoftheworldalready.

Let’s again takeMoringa as an example.Moringa hasbeenused incertainpartsof theworld forcenturies ifnot even thousands of years. Verymaturemarkets forMoringaandMoringa-basedproductsalreadyexist,forexampleinthePhilippines.However,whenlookingattheEuropeanmarket, it isstill in itsbeginnings. InEurope,consumersstillbuyMoringaaspureleafpowder,mostlyinbagsorencapsulatedasadietarysupplement.Morin-gainEuropeisstillconsideredaverynicheandexoticfoodsupplement.Themarket forMoringa is in itsveryearlystage.However,inthePhilippines,peoplealready

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enjoy a vast assortment of interesting Moringa-basedproducts.Hence,themarketismuchmoremature.Ac-cordingly, introducingasimple leaf-powderbasedpro-ductinthePhilippinemarketwouldn’tcausemuchofastir,indeeditmightnotevenbesuccessful,ascompeti-tion isalreadyverydense.Theviceversaalsoapplies:introducing a very advanced Moringa-based productintotheEuropeanmarketmightnotbesuccessfulatthispointintime,asitmightsimplygetoverlookedandigno-red.Themarketjustwouldn’tbereadyforit.

Consequently, successfully marketing NUS always re-quires thatyoufirstanalyse the targetmarketandde-velopproductsthatfittheactualstateofthemarketandthe consumer demands.

StoryApart from marketing NUS in the countries of origin,whichareoftendevelopingcountries,goodopportunitiesforcommercialisationalsoexist inothertargetmarketssuchasdevelopedcountries,wherethespendingpowerfornewproductsfromNUSexistsandrevenuesforpro-ducersmightbehigher.However,marketsindevelopedcountriesaresaturated.Foralmosteveryproduct-typethereisanA-brandandatleastacoupleofcompetitors.Basicproductsareavailable inanabundanceof typesandbrandsandspecialtyproductsornicheproductsareatleastprovidedbytwotothreecompetitors.

Howdoesthataffectthesuccessfulmarketingofneglec-ted and underutilised species? Yousimplyhavetostickout. Consumersnotonlywanttoknowthetangiblebe-nefitsofaproduct(e.g.healthy,energising)buttheyalsowanttohearastory.Astorythattheycanrelateto,thattouchesthemorthatmakestheproductremarkable. Itisveryimportanttoelaboratethispartofthemarketingpositioning.

Let’s take theproductionofanenergydrinkbasedontheGuayusa(IlexGuayusa)leavesfromEcuador.PartlyfundedbytheGermanGIZ(GermanAgencyforInternati-onalCooperation)theUS-basedcompanyRunaLLCde-velopedacleanandhealthyenergydrinktobemarketedintheUS-market.TheUS-marketis,likeothermarkets,fullofenergydrinksandyouwouldexpectthatitwouldbedifficulttoenteramarketlikethiswithanewproductfrom a neglected and underutilised species. However,alongsidegettingthebasicmarketingfactorsright,RunaLLCalsooffersconsumersastorybasedonthepositi-veimageofthetwoyoungfounders,thepositiveeffectsthebusinesshasontheenvironment(rainforest),andthebenefits that itprovides for localproducers inEcuador(sustainableincomegeneration).14

In the end, product features, pricing, packaging, pointofsaleetc.areallveryimportant.However,peopleliketotalkaboutsomethingwiththeirpeergroup.Thelike-lihood that something gets shared with other people in-creaseswith thequalityof thestory.Nobodywants toshareaboringstory,andthesameappliestoproductsfromNUS.

audienceWhenthinkingaboutthestorybehindaproductorbrand,wenecessarilyneedtothinkaboutwhowewanttohearthatstory.That’s theaudience.Asmentionedabove,atargetgroupforaproduct ismandatory.Butthetargetgroupisonlythegroupofpeoplethatmightpossiblybuyaproduct.Theaudienceisthegroupofpeoplethatactu-allywantstohearwhatthebrandhastosay.Tosuccess-fullymarketaneglectedandunderutilisedspecies,weneed to understand what our audience relates to. Let’s take for example the Moringa (Moringa oleifera)case.TheGermanbasedcompanyafricrops!GmbHim-portsMoringaleafproductsandMoringaseedoilfromeasternAfrica,mainlyTanzaniaandMalawi,wheretheyhelp the localsmallholders tosuccessfullyplant,grow,

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14 www.runa.org

harvest,process,andselltheMoringaproducts.Soaf-ricrops! GmbH does inclusive business developmentinthecountryoforigin.Partsoftheproductionareex-ported toEuropeandmarketed toconsumersunderaconsumerbrand.Andthat’swheretheaudiencecomesin.Thestoryofafricrops!GmbHincombinationwiththehealthbenefitsofMoringaissomethingthattheconsu-merswanttohear.Thefactthattheycandosomethinggoodfortheirownbodyplushelppeopleinotherpartsoftheworldseemstobeastoryworthtelling.

BrandStory, target group, audience: whatever marketers aretryingtodotomarketneglectedandunderutilisedspe-cies, it all comesdown to thebrand.Why?Nomatterhowsmallaventuremightbe,hownichethetargetgroupis,orhowspecificthecauseis,abrandprotectsthebu-siness.Supplychains,productionfacilities,technology,advertisements:anythingcanbecopied.However,arealbrandcan’tbecopied,becauseit’sanintangibleassetinpeoples’minds.CompaniestryingtomarketNUSshouldnot riskbeingcopied. There is always somebodywhohasgotmoremoneytoinvestormorestafftoputonaproject.Bycreatingadistinguishablebrandmarketersofnus can protect their cause.

CONCluSIONSInthisarticlewehavediscussedseveralaspectsofmar-ketingneglectedandunderutilisedspecies.We lookedatthedefinitionofNUS,thereasonswhytheyareNUS,andthebenefitsthatcomewiththecommercializationofNUS.WeagreedthatpromotingNUScancontributetofoodsecurityandbiodiversityconservation.Furthermo-re,wehaveseenthat thesuccessfulutilisationofNUScan also represent a vital source of food and income,especially for the ‘base of the pyramid’. Accordingly,

internationaleffortsareincreasinglypointedtotheutili-sationofNUSasasourceoffood,income,andbiodiver-sityconservation.Wehavefurtherdiscussedtwodifferentapproachesto-wardstheutilisationofNUS.Oneistounderstandtheuti-lisationasanactofconservation.Inmostofthesecases international development aid organisations and ngos conducttheirrespectiveprojectstofosterthecultivation,processing, andutilisationof neglectedandunderutili-sedspecies.Theysetupthenecessarystructuresandframeworks,applyknowledgesharing,andbuildcapaci-ty.However,theylackthesuccessfulcommercialisationandasaresulttheprojectsarenoteconomicallysustain-ableinthelongrun.

TheotherapproachtowardstheutilisationofNUSistoembrace them as a source of business, especially forthoseatthebeginningoftheprocess.AlotofNUShaveahugepotentialtonotonlyserveasfoodandnutritio-nal supplements for theproducers, but also as a highmarginproductinothermarkets.Successfullycommer-cialisingneglectedandunderutilisedspeciescanofferavitalsourceofincomeforallpartsofthevaluechaininproducing countries.There should be no doubt that the latter approach isthe more economically and socially sustainable wayof utilising NUS. Accordingly, everybody involved inthe utilisation and conservation of NUS should striveto achieve a sustainablemarket orientedapproach to-wards NUS. The means to successfully market NUSare the same as marketing any other goods, and themost important aspects have been described in thisarticle.However, there is on big difference in applyingprofessional marketing techniques to NUS: it will notonly be for a good reason but also for a good cause!

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Sourcesandfurtherreading:

Gruere,G.P.;Giuliani,A.;Smale,M.;(2006).Marketingunderutilisedplantspeciesforthebenefitofthepoor.InternationalFoodPolicyResearchInstitute(IFPRI).

http://www.pfaf.org/user/default.aspx

http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5609e/y5609e02.htm

http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/

http://www.runa.org

http://www.kulikulibar.com

http://www.africrops.de

http://www.cropsforthefuture.org/about-us/what-are-neglected-and-underutilised-species/

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/,11.05.2014

http://www.danstone.me/what-the-kale-the-story-data-behind-kales-meteoric-rise

JaenickeH,Höschle-ZeledonI(Eds).2006.StrategicFrameworkforunderutilisedplantspeciesresearchanddevelop-ment,withspecialreferencetoAsiaandthePacific,andtosub-SaharanAfrica.InternationalCentreforUnderutilisedCrops,Colombo,SriLankaandGlobalFacilitationUnitforUnderutilisedSpecies,Rome,Italy.

Janick,J.(1991).Newfruitsfromoldgenes.ActaHorticulturae297

Will,M.2008.PromotingValueChainsofNeglectedandUnderutilizedSpeciesforPro-PoorGrowthandBiodiversityConservation.GuidelinesandGoodPractices.GlobalFacilitationUnitforUnderutilizedSpecies,Rome,Italy.

about the author:KlaasKoolmanisabusinessandmarketingconsultant,dedicatedtomarketingforsustainablebusinessmodels.WithKoolmanConsulting,hefocusesoninclusivebusiness,directfairtrade,marketingforneglectedandunderutilizedspecies,novelfoodsandinnovativenicheproductsfrombiodiversity.Hehasbeenworkinginvariousindustriessince2001withinternationalcompaniessuchasSonyanduntilrecentlyheldmanagementpositions insalesandmarketing.His internationalexperiencebroughthimtoSingapore,BuenosAiresandLondon;hecurrentlylivesinBerlin.KlaasholdsanMBAinBusinessAdministrationandMarketingfromtheUniversityofErlangen-Nuremberg,Germany.

Contact:mail@koolmanconsulting.com

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