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business champions that produce processed and/or packaged foods and rely heavily
on machinery to produce their food products. In several cases, pilots were heavily
delayed or did not progress further than the strategy phase, because the product
simply could not be produced due to the delayed procurement of the right machinery (or the right volumes of raw materials) or lack of local technicians available to
service or fix machinery that broke down or did not function properly. This makes
all the preparatory work a waste of time and does not fit the context of piloting,
where approaches and strategies will need to be tested under a short time span.
Doing a proper assessment with the business champion on their “capacity to produce” is paramount, and one should be cautious with promises regarding bank loans
to be secured, grants to be received, or technical support to be available.
6.5.7 Adhering to Food Safety Regulation Is of Essence
In many of the pilots, the strategizing activities eventually led the business champion to come up with a completely new food product. However, if a company comes
along with a new product, especially when the company has finished “market testing” their new product and wants to launch the product in a larger market, the new
product often will need to be tested by the food safety authorities and receive a
certification that it meets food safety requirements. In some instances, these processes have proven to be very time and resource intensive; particularly with the
smaller business champions, management did not always have the right expertise or
capacities in place to deliver on the different requirements or requests for information that these government agencies ask for. Therefore, in different instances, as part
of an exit strategy, 2SCALE has supported the business champion in meeting the
requirements to get their product approved and certified by food safety agencies.
6.5.8 Preventing Adverse Environmental Effects
In several of the BoP marketing pilots, new products were developed, or new stock
keeping units (SKUs) of products were introduced. Often, these developments also
cause larger volumes of packaging materials, often plastic, to be introduced to the
market. When not addressed properly, this increase in packaging materials could
lead to substantially more plastics to be dumped as garbage and affect the environment. This challenge is not just specific to 2SCALE and touches many different
market-led initiatives focusing on BoP markets. Large multinationals like Unilever
acknowledge the challenge and are looking at alternative, often biodegradable,
packaging options. In the future, 2SCALE will look at opportunities for introducing
more environmentally friendly packaging options or working with companies on
recycling of their own waste streams, bearing in mind at the same time that this
should not add prohibitive additional costs to the business model.
N. van Dijk et al.
business champions that produce processed and/or packaged foods and rely heavily
on machinery to produce their food products. In several cases, pilots were heavily
delayed or did not progress further than the strategy phase, because the product
simply could not be produced due to the delayed procurement of the right machinery (or the right volumes of raw materials) or lack of local technicians available to
service or fix machinery that broke down or did not function properly. This makes
all the preparatory work a waste of time and does not fit the context of piloting,
where approaches and strategies will need to be tested under a short time span.
Doing a proper assessment with the business champion on their “capacity to produce” is paramount, and one should be cautious with promises regarding bank loans
to be secured, grants to be received, or technical support to be available.
6.5.7 Adhering to Food Safety Regulation Is of Essence
In many of the pilots, the strategizing activities eventually led the business champion to come up with a completely new food product. However, if a company comes
along with a new product, especially when the company has finished “market testing” their new product and wants to launch the product in a larger market, the new
product often will need to be tested by the food safety authorities and receive a
certification that it meets food safety requirements. In some instances, these processes have proven to be very time and resource intensive; particularly with the
smaller business champions, management did not always have the right expertise or
capacities in place to deliver on the different requirements or requests for information that these government agencies ask for. Therefore, in different instances, as part
of an exit strategy, 2SCALE has supported the business champion in meeting the
requirements to get their product approved and certified by food safety agencies.
6.5.8 Preventing Adverse Environmental Effects
In several of the BoP marketing pilots, new products were developed, or new stock
keeping units (SKUs) of products were introduced. Often, these developments also
cause larger volumes of packaging materials, often plastic, to be introduced to the
market. When not addressed properly, this increase in packaging materials could
lead to substantially more plastics to be dumped as garbage and affect the environment. This challenge is not just specific to 2SCALE and touches many different
market-led initiatives focusing on BoP markets. Large multinationals like Unilever
acknowledge the challenge and are looking at alternative, often biodegradable,
packaging options. In the future, 2SCALE will look at opportunities for introducing
more environmentally friendly packaging options or working with companies on
recycling of their own waste streams, bearing in mind at the same time that this
should not add prohibitive additional costs to the business model.
N. van Dijk et al.