Introduction to the break-out sessions

The conference included break-out sessions in five areas:

1. Farm production
2. Spice trade
3. Food industry and retail
4. From regulation to certification
5. Managing chain partnerships

1. Farm production

Most spice farmers are poor, small-scale farmers who produce spices as a secondary crop next to commodities such as maize and bananas. For a farmer to commit to a supply chain, he needs above all a guaranteed and competitive price for his produce. If this is not the case, the farmer might be inclined to side-sell produce to other buyers or even shift to producing higher-value crops. An example of this took place recently in Indonesia where farmers shifted from spice to cocoa production.

Producing spices for high quality markets such as in Europe and the US both creates opportunities - price margins are usually higher - as well as constraints - higher requirements on quality - for producers.

This break-out session deals with the social, economic and environmental issues around sustainable spice production. What incentives do farmers need? And what kind of support? Patrick Barthelemy will introduce his cooperative company that trades cassia from Indonesia and Michael Gravina will explain how he procures sustainable Elephant Pepper through an outgrower scheme in Mozambique.

Session moderator: Resi Janssen, Cordaid

Panelists / Cases: 

• Patrick Barthelemy: Cassia Co-op, Indonesia
• Michael Gravina: Elephant Pepper, Mozambique

2. Spice trade

A spice exporter is the bridge between spice production and the market. On the one hand, he has to deal with hundreds small-scale farmers, usually through intermediate traders, who all want a good price for their produce. On the other hand, exporters need to deliver products that comply with quality requirements and, increasingly, with social and environmental standards in volatile markets. This requires costly quality management systems and training of farmers.

In this session, questions such as how exporters can fulfill market requirements with regard to quality, social and environmental standards, and how these requirements can be turned into a business opportunity will be dealt with. Can spice exporters keep up their position in the export market to Europe and the US or will it become more attractive to look for new, less stringent markets in the region? In other words, how can the exporter/importer remain a competitive actor in a global sustainable chain?

Samash Nathu from Uganda Crop Industries Limited, Mark Barnett from PBP Spice in Vietnam and Bharat Maskai from Laxmi Enterpises in India will explain the strategies their companies use and the issues they face in order to remain competitive.

Session moderator: Marion van Opijnen, CREM

Panelists / Cases: 

• Mark Barnett: Pacific Basin Partnership, Vietnam
• Bharat Maskai: Laxmi Enterprises, India 
• Samash Nathu: Uganda Crop Industries Limited, Uganda

3. Food industry and retail

The bulk of all spices are processed into other products: bakery products, soups and sauces, snacks etc. Although spices are an ingredient in a wide range of products, for most food and retail companies they are not yet a critical product in terms of sustainability, unlike fish, cocoa, palm oil and coffee, for example.

But sustainability requirements are being applied to a growing number of products, and a whole range of certification systems exist  to demonstrate their level of sustainability. There are general systems such as Fair Trade or Organic, but sometimes companies develop their own private certification systems.

This session discusses trends in consumer demand for sustainable products and, related to that, trends in the sustainability requirements of the food industry and retailers. What are the opportunities and threats of these trends for the spice industry? And how can the spice industry anticipate these trends? Should the sector develop its own sustainability certification system or link up with already existing ones?  

In this session, Karin Bogaers will explain the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy of Ahold, the mother company of Albert Hein supermarkets in the Netherlands, amongst other things.  

Session moderator: Paul Wolvekamp, Both Ends

Panelists / Cases:

• Karin Bogaers, Ahold

4. From regulation to certification

Different actors in the supply chain deal with different issues, ranging from sustainable production to dealing with demanding consumers. The chain as a whole is influenced by the policy context at local, national and global levels. Food safety regulations for exporting spices into the EU and US are known to be strict. On top of that, EU and US markets have higher social and environmental standards, for which transparency in supply chains is a necessity.

What do European regulations stipulate? And what does this imply for the different chain actors?  What future policy can be expected? Will the European market remain an interesting outlet? What is the vision of the government on sustainability in the chain? And can certification systems be a useful tool for managing food safety regulations and sustainability standards?

In this break-out session, Tjeerd de Vries from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture will share the ministry’s activities and vision on sustainable trade. Professor John Fagan form CERT-ID will share his experiences with developing certification systems, including social certification systems.

Session moderator: Rhiannon Pyburn, Royal Tropical Institute

Panelists:

• John Fagan, Earth Open Source
• Tjeerd de Vries, Dutch Minsitry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV)

5. Managing chain partnerships

Issues in realizing inclusive, transparent supply chains

To guarantee the supply of spices to Western markets, solid relations in the supply chain are a prerequisite for success. Increasingly, not just primary chain actors are involved in developing sustainable supply chains, but also public stakeholders and service suppliers, such as finance institutions, are becoming more involved. This creates opportunities but also challenges. Cooperation between actors that operate in different contexts (for instance public and private) is not always easy: how to communicate with people with different priorities? How to create trust and transparency? But above all, how to set up efficient and effective supply chains across the board?

This break-out sessions deals with managing chain partnerships. The business case of Global Food Products (GFP) in Tanzania will be discussed as an example of chain collaboration. GFP, Organic Food Ingredients (OFI) and the Dutch NGO Cordaid, all stakeholders in the case, will present their experiences of working together. The session is facilitated by KIT Intercultural Management & Communication, a division of the Royal Tropical Institute.

Session moderator: Maarten Bremer, KIT Intercultural Management and Communication

Panelists: 

• Marg Leydens, Golden Food Products
• Michael Guerrero Zimmermann, Organic Food Ingredients Sagl
• Annemiek van der Leij, Cordaid

Case:

• Jose Ruijter / Cleopa Ayo: Golden Food Products, Tanzania