100% Colombian Pectin

•100% Colombian Pectin is economically sustainable!
We will produce and commercialize the pectin. So, throughout the sales we will generate profit. Since our raw material is a waste from the coffee agroindustry and it is actually a big problem for the coffee growers, it will be very cheap. We will seek alliances and agreements with the regional coffee associations in order to arrange the logistics of the transportation of our raw material, so in this way have the proper management of the material.
Also, we have a local university (EAFIT) supporting the Research and Development stage, helping us to perform all the experiments we need to do so we can obtain a standarized product in a proper industrial scale. This R&D support will guarantee the sustainability of the project.

•Our customers.
Our clients will be the consumers of the pectin which are the companies that use the pectin as raw material for their production. They will find a pectin that because is free of transport and importation fees and taxes, will be cheaper than the one they use.
We are aware that the price is not really what they care about, but, it is a key factor at the moment of comparing different brands of pectin with the same quality. Our pectin will show all the quality specifications for food industry and our goal in the mid term is to achieve the specifications required for the pharmaceutical industry.

During the first year we are expecting to have the 15% of the market in Colombia. This means a production of approximately 33 Tones of Pectin in the first year, and the reach of about 30% of the potential customers.
By the second year, we expect to have 40% of the market. This means a production of approximately 90 Tons of pectin in the second year. And the reach of about 50% of the potential customers.

1.Our Marketing. How do we reach our customers.
Before starting the plant and all the production, we will be in contact with the different companies that use pectin as a raw material. We will start a relationship with them, by letting them know about our project, asking them about their quality, quantity and other specification needs they have for their process. We will have them accompanying us during our starting process, so they know what we are doing and how we are doing it. In this way, they will know since the beginning about our future product, and they will start getting interested. We will offer the pectin for trials so they see how our product fits their processes.
Also, because we will work with the coffee agroindustry, we will get support from the government. This will help us marketing our product with a good name and with a feeling of encouraging the Colombian Industry.

2.Our Potential competitors.
All the pectin that is consumed in Colombia is imported. This means, our competitors are the international companies that produce it. Nevertheless, they are not our direct competitors. Our direct competitors will be the importers and distributors of the pectin.
Our product will be very suitable from an economic point of view, since:
As one of the main producers of coffee in the world, we have an immense source of raw material.
Because our pectin is national, the fees of transportation, importation taxes and others will be minimum.
The amount of pectin in coffee is clearly bigger than in the traditional sources as citrics and apples.
All this will make our product very suitable from an economic point of view.

3. Our business partners - alliances and supporters
-EAFIT. (Colombia) They are helping us to develope the technology for the extraction of pectin from coffee based on different research projects.
-CENICAFE, (Colombia) as a center of Research and Development in the coffee agroindustry, will be very interested on alternatives for supporting the coffee business and innovative uses for the waste.
-FEDECAFE (Colombia) The institution that coordinates and helps the development of the coffee industry. Its role will be in helping to arrange the logistics of the transportation and storage of the material. Also, they will contribute educating the different farmers and producers to properly handle the pulp and mucilage.
-CECIF (Colombia) will be supporting us in the laboratory studies and in the quality specifications. As a center of Research and Development, they will support us for achieving the quality standards our product needs.

4.Our start-up funding, apart from possible BiD Challenge prize money
We are applying to different business plan competitions and also to the different funding programs that exist in Colombia. We know this project is in the right moment to start, and therefore we need to find all the economical support we can get.
We can get funds from organizations and from the government because of very important reasons:
-Our project deals with supporting the coffee agroindustry. This means helping the maintenance of our traditional and famous coffee industry in Colombia.
-We are using waste that jeopardize the environment as a raw material. This means, we are helping to alleviate pollution in the places where coffee grains are treated, avoiding or reducing the contamination of rivers and the generation of pollution.
-We are starting a type of industry that does not exist in Colombia. Therefore we are innovating on development alternatives.
-We are obtaining pectin from an alternative source. Traditional pectin comes from apple and orange. Therefore, we are also innovative in the pectin industry.
-We are working in cooperation with universities and R&D centers. This means, we are transferring technology from universities to the productive sector.

1.The impact of our business plan on local:
•(In)direct employment: At least 20 direct jobs and 10 indirect in the first two years.

•(In)direct income: The fact that we are utilizing waste from coffee growers, who in many cases are peasants, will mean they will have an extra income at selling to us their waste (mucilage). Also, this means we are strengthening the coffee agroindustry cluster.

•Quality of living standards: We are generating employment in the rural regions; this means we are employing poor humble people. This, in consequence, will increase the quality of life in the rural areas, avoiding them to emigrate to the cities, where they have very little chance to develop.

•Knowledge and skills: We are building knowledge trough research of new developments and generation of new employment possibilities. Also, the farmers must acquire new skills to work in the plant.

•Environment and biodiversity: We are helping to reduce the impact of the pollution that coffee agroindustry produces in the field. And we help in two ways: First, we need to have the less water possible in our raw material. Therefore, we are supporting the dry process for the extraction of the coffee grains. This process is considered to be cleaner and friendlier with the environment. On the other hand the reduction of the organic material to be disposed. That even when it is organic, it is very pollutant because of its tendency to acidify and the tannin content.