Biovalor Journey: training promotes the development of communication and marketing skills for 25 socio-biodiversity businesses.

Jatobá flour from Tocantins, copaiba oil from Amazonas, and babaçu coconut soap from Maranhão. Products that carry territories and traditions within their packaging, but which often arrive at markets and fairs without being able to tell their stories.

To support community organizations and businesses in building stronger communication and marketing strategies, the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN) organized an intensive training program to develop these capabilities, aimed at organizations that produce and market socio-biodiversity products.

“The need for training on this topic arose from leaders of organizations supported by ISPN,” says Silvana Bastos, coordinator of the ISPN Sociobiodiversity Program. “These are organizations that already produce and market sociobiodiversity products in various markets, but they recognize that they need to better communicate the diverse values ​​embedded in these products. This could be through a more appropriate label, a brand that represents them, or social media materials that tell this story.”

The first stage of the course took place between May 26 and 29 in Belém (PA). Over four days, representatives from the 25 selected organizations learned about marketing fundamentals, packaging design, value creation, and strategic communication.

Now, the training moves on to the practical part. Each organization must develop a communication product, which could be a new visual identity, a redesigned brand, or promotional materials.

The training program utilizes the Biovalor Methodology and is being conducted in partnership with Libra Branding, from Belém.

METHODOLOGY

“Bioeconomy products are important and have a place in the market,” points out Karol Alfaia, a communications specialist and partner at the Libra Branding agency and facilitator of the training. “Our methodology isn't just about creating a layout, but also about teaching them how to do branding every day, because their products are already full of meaning. We just need to show them that,” she says.

During the training, participants also had the opportunity to reflect on the difference between price and value, exchange experiences, and learn about business cases that have already gone through the brand repositioning process.

According to Bernardo Magalhães, also a partner at Libra Branding and facilitator of the training, the process was built in layers. It started with the basic concepts of value, moved through the emotional and sensory dimensions of the products, and arrived at what the territory represents, for the final touch of a brand.

“It was four days of work and monitoring that grew steadily,” he says. “We started with the initial concepts, delved deeper into the emotional and sensory perspectives, understood how the values ​​of the territory translate into a better-finished product, and how all of this connects.”

For him, these steps are important before starting to create the visual designs and communications for the products.

“We undertook this long journey with a final stage in mind, which is being able to deliver the products labeled, designed, with all the presentations and technical design improvements. It is after this that we will finally arrive at new labels, new packaging, and new boxes.”

LEARNING BY DOING

For those in the region, the training is proving to be a watershed moment. This is according to Rosemeire Aparecida Siqueira, president of the Regional Association of Extractive Producers of the Pantanal (ARPEP), who works with babassu, baru, and pequi, developing products such as breads, biscuits, liqueurs, oils, flours, and sweets.

During the first stage of the training, she was also able to reassess the prices of her products and value her work. “We didn’t value the time spent going into the woods to collect the products. So now we are learning how to do it. When we go to a fair, the first thing people look at is the label, and it has to tell the story of the association.”

Raylton Pereira, technical advisor for the Aripuanã Guariba Agro-extractive Association in southern Amazonas, which works with copaiba oil, highlights the importance of communication and marketing for socio-biodiversity businesses.

“Communication is key. It's no use having certifications, a structured production system, or good packaging if you can't communicate that to other people; you only have it on a spreadsheet,” he assesses. “Communication isn't just a way to promote your work, but also to tell the story of the people behind the scenes, the producers, and the people who are delivering that raw material,” he concludes.

The president of the Cooperative of Extractivists and Family Farmers of Estrada do Arroz (COOPEAFE), in Maranhão, Bárbara Pereira, who works with the production of products from babassu, arrived at the course convinced that her product was already good, but left with a different perspective: “I started to realize that there is a lot of missing information. It's not always good enough, we can always improve it further.”

She is already setting goals for August, when the process concludes with the delivery of the new packaging to the cooperative.

"I want that when someone from the community goes out to a fair, we can show that our product has our history, carries our ancestry, and represents our territory."

Lidiane Lopes, a community member of the Ama Cantão Association, emerged from the first phase of the training with an understanding that summarizes the objectives of the Biovalor training program.

"We were already adding value to our product, we already had our practices in place, but we didn't have a clear understanding of its value," he says.

With the opportunity to redesign the packaging, Lidiane is already thinking about the rewards she will reap. "We're going to deliver it to the market in a way that will be well-received by the public, we're going to achieve our production goals, and bring economic development to every family in our region."

STAGES

The training is part of the project “Good Living and Bioeconomy: promoting environmental conservation and income generation for indigenous peoples, traditional communities and family farmers through the strengthening of socio-biodiversity value chains”, led by WWF-Brazil in consortium with ISPN and Conexsus and supported by the European Union.

The Biovalor Journey concludes in August, when the organizations will have the results of their projects in hand. In addition to communication materials, each project will be a means to deliver quality products to the market and generate income for those who depend on Brazilian socio-biodiversity.