Quantitative
Surveys and market data, to size a market and compare prices.
What we do / Market studies
Market studies
We find out who buys a product, at what price and to what standard. We work for processors planning a new product or market, and for funders choosing which sectors to back.
What we do
We visit shops and importers, interview buyers, check shelf prices and packaging, and compare that with what local companies can supply. We send samples to buyers for feedback.
You receive the buyers and prices for your product, the standards they ask for, the gaps between your product and those standards, and a short plan to close them. A study often leads on to export coaching for processors that are ready, or to food safety for those that need certification.
Our research methods
We use the method that fits the question, and often combine them.
Qualitative
In-depth interviews, focus groups and observation, to find out why people buy and what stops them.
In the market
Visits to buyers, shops and importers, and online store reviews.
Storytelling and segmentation
What a product means to a shopper, and which customers to aim at.
Some of our studies
Exploring Market Segments for Fonio Cookies in Burkina Faso
Who would buy a fonio cookie? Research and a sprint led to one launch and one reformulation.
Identifying Opportunities for Cashew Apple Juice in Ghana
Would people in Ghana drink juice made from cashew apples? What tasting panels and pilots showed.
Exploring Consumer Attitudes to Food Safety in Malawi
Does food safety pay? What consumers, shops and restaurants told us.
Where we have done this
- COLEAD: processed avocado products for European buyers, from desk research, interviews and SIAL in Paris.
- Benin: we assessed 12 dried pineapple processors in depth for CBI, then coached them, with market visits to Germany and the Netherlands.
- Burkina Faso: we tested six crops against demand and chose ginger, fonio and hibiscus so mango factories can work all year. 2 containers of fonio have shipped to the Netherlands.
- Angola: EU importers tested dried fruit samples and named the quality gaps.
Read the work
2026
Market study · English
Exploring Market Segments for Fonio Cookies in Burkina Faso
Who would buy a fonio cookie? Research and a sprint led to one launch and one reformulation.
- Publisher
- FonioForce
- Summary
- Read the summary
2025
Market study · English
Sector study: fresh citrus
The market for fresh citrus: who buys, at what price and to what standard, and what African suppliers need to meet it.
- Publisher
- COLEAD
- Full study
- Read on the COLEAD website
2025
Market study · English
Sector study: citrus juice
The market for citrus juice: buyers, prices and standards, and what it would take for an African processor to supply it.
- Publisher
- COLEAD
- Full study
- Read on the COLEAD website
2025
Market study · English
Sector study: citrus oil and peel
The market for citrus oil and peel: buyers, prices and standards, and what it would take for an African processor to supply them.
- Publisher
- COLEAD
- Full study
- Read on the COLEAD website
2025
Market study · English
Exploring Consumer Attitudes to Food Safety in Malawi
Does food safety pay? What consumers, shops and restaurants told us.
- Publisher
- Ireland-Malawi Agri-Food Systems Programme (IMAGRI)
- Summary
- Read the summary
2024
Market study · English
Sector study: processed avocado
Avocado oil, frozen avocado (IQF) and avocado pulp: who buys each, in what form, at what price and to what standard, and what it takes for an African processor to supply it.
- Publisher
- COLEAD
- Full study
- Read on the COLEAD website
2024
Market study · English, French
Sector study: processed mango
Fresh cut, dried and other processed mango products: who buys each, at what price and to what standard, and what it takes for an African processor to supply them.
- Publisher
- COLEAD
- Full study
- Read on the COLEAD website
2022
Market study · English
Market profile: sweet potato flour and starch, puree and gari from Ghana
Sweet potato flour and starch, puree and gari from Ghana, for local, regional and European markets.
- Publisher
- COLEAD
- Full study
- Read on the COLEAD website
2020
Market study · English
Identifying Opportunities for Cashew Apple Juice in Ghana
Would people in Ghana drink juice made from cashew apples? What tasting panels and pilots showed.
- Publisher
- ComCashew (GIZ)
- Summary
- Read the summary
Projects
Export readiness for the dried pineapple sector
12processing companies assessed in depth
Diagnostics, coaching and programme design for CBI's support to dried pineapple exporters in Benin.
Burkina DryMore: processing beyond the mango season
2containers of fonio shipped to the Netherlands
Helping Burkina Faso's dried mango processors add fonio, ginger and hibiscus so their factories work all year.
Women-led fish farming businesses
161stakeholders engaged across eight districts
A study of how women fish farmers in Malawi can move from subsistence ponds to profitable businesses.
Laying the foundations for a dried fruit sector
80+stakeholders brought together in Benguela
A feasibility study, buyer tests and a roadmap for a dried pineapple and mango sector on Angola's Lobito Corridor.
Publications
2024
White paper · English
Introducing innovative processing technology in the Burkina DryMore project
What the project learned from bringing new cleaning and washing equipment for ginger, fonio and hibiscus into Burkina Faso factories. Covers importing equipment, training operators and next steps for companies and funders.
- Publisher
- Sense (Burkina DryMore project)
- Project
- Burkina DryMore: processing beyond the mango season
- Download (4.5 MB)
2024
White paper · French
BDM - Introduire une technologie de transformation innovante
French version of the DryMore white paper on introducing new processing technology for ginger, fonio and hibiscus.
- Publisher
- Sense (Burkina DryMore project)
- Project
- Burkina DryMore: processing beyond the mango season
- Download (3.9 MB)
Resource
SIAL recipe book
Recipe book linked to the DryMore products, prepared for the SIAL food trade fair. The file is image-only and 143 MB, so it needs compressing before it goes online.
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