Client Ambition

The fragrance industry buys 90% of the Elemi Gum extracted from the Elemi Trees in The Philippines. Our client was one of the leading buyers of the Elemi Gum and was keen to create shared value for the Elemi Gum growing communities. They hired us to curate insights and analytics to inform, design, and execute their responsible sourcing commitments in The Philippines.

Our Solution

We deployed our value chain assessment methodology to map the key actors of the core value chain and the value chain influencers and supporters.

We crafted our in-depth interview guides and focus group discussion guides after exhaustive desk research and remote interviews with the local partner organizations.

We tested the questionnaires in the field through a pilot survey. In the main field survey of 2 weeks, our 3 member team conducted inetrviews with 100+ value chain actors across 16 villages to draw baseline data and insights.

We presented our insights and analytics in a report and disseminated the learnings for the client through a remote workshop.

Results

This one-of-its-kind seminal study covered 23% of the Elemi Gum market by volume. It provided rich insights on socio-economic conditions of the landowners, tappers, collecting agents, economics, and agroforestry practices. It helped our client decide and prioritise their interventions and consider investment opportunities in their local partner companies.