As part of our market intelligence service, Globally Cool spent two days training representatives of Business Support Organizations (BSO’s) for the Import Promotion Desk (IPD). During the biennial food fair in Cologne, team member Warner trained the participants on how to conduct market research.

In Dutch they say: ‘being well prepared is half the work.’  This especially goes for market research! With the help of Globally Cool, all the BSO officials beforehand determined a focus product and a research design to stick to at the fair.

The representatives also established different goal sets for their research. For example: Kubanych Zakirov, the official from IPPA Kyrgyzstan, wanted to discover how to reach the European market directly, instead of using distributors in Turkey. Chami Dilrukshi, the representative from the Export Development Board from Sri Lanka, mapped out the market opportunities in Europe and made trend reports for cinnamon.

49 contact moments and 189 key insights

After checking out on the Anuga-app what companies would potentially have useful information with regard to the research topic, the trainees dived into their subjects. This resulted into 49 contact moments and 189 collected key insights.

1200 minutes of intelligence collection and 223 pictures taken

After collecting all the information needed to conduct a report, the participants presented their findings to the group on which they reflected the following day. A remarkable finding: Kubanych Zakirov discovered that the lion share of kidney beans traded by the European companies has as Kyrgyz origin.

To Globally Cool the field training goes much further than teaching people how to conduct research, it is also about getting them inspired. As Denekew from Ethiopia told:

“Warner is not only a good trainer, but also has a very good knowledge of how and where to find the best information that suits my needs. I tried to collect information for teff, which was quite challenging. But because of Warner’s excellent knowledge of the European grains market, I was so inspired and able to find great insights on the European teff-market.”

Curious about how Globally Cool can help your business tap into new opportunities? Have a look at our market intelligence services.