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Markets and marketing opportunities

• Jambi Kiwa's market strategy is based on diversification. The association maintained its place in the local markets where it first started selling its products while expanding into Ecuador’s regional market by entering supermarkets. It also sells to foreign clients, particularly through  fair trade and organic market channels. Of all five cases visited, Jambi Kiwa has the most diversified marketing strategy.

• The strategic alliances that the association established are particularly interesting. Some are related to marketing, such as those that opened the door to supermarkets. Alliances with other institutions, such as universities and research institutes, allowed members to improve the quality of their products and scientifically demonstrate their beneficial effects on health. Unlike the other businesses visited, Jambi Kiwa has succeeded in protecting its mixes and formulas by registering them with the appropriate institutions.

• The ongoing challenge is how to establish appropriate marketing strategies for the business's two products, which are very different in nature. The strategies relate to the clients that they would reach and the markets they need to access. On one hand, they produce aromatic plants, which can reach a wider range of people and are less regulated. On the other hand, they sell medicinal plants, which have a specific audience market and are  highly regulated.

• Another challenge is to make a substantial profit from investments in technology such as the plant-drying facility purchased to improve the quality and increase the volume of production.

Organization and leadership

• Jambi Kiwa is an organization with a very strong cultural base. The association was established to revive the producers' indigenous culture and traditional indigenous medicine based on the knowledge of herbs. This has advantages and drawbacks. From a social perspective, these activities contribute to improving health in a region where there is no health centre, and they are a source of income and an alternative to migration. Members have a strong ownership feeling  for the business. One of the drawbacks is that it is not easy to define how profits should be used. Should they be distributed among the association’s members or invested in community development? There is a risk that the needs of the community and the business do not integrate and that they may clash in the future.

• Strong leadership by the managers is another feature of this case, and it is linked to the community’s cultural heritage and its past and present struggles. Rosa Guamán is an indisputably important figure of reference for association members and business clients, but she is not the sole authority. Various levels of the organization, which includes a surveillance committee, share control of business management.

Innovation and technology

• Two types of innovation are present in the business: innovative products, and innovative management and organizational processes. In terms of product, the innovation consisted in changing the focus from selling a given medicinal herb to selling a ‘healing function’ relative to the illness to be treated. This change led the association to enter into a highly regulated sector and forced it to better define its product. It also motivated the association to forge strategic alliances with universities and research institutes to gain a better understanding of the healing effects of the herbs. The first change triggered other changes, such as changes in packaging, processing and presentation of the product that were not innovative for the market but were innovations for Jambi Kiwa.

• Sophisticated mechanisms for product control and distribution represent an innovation in Jambi Kiwa's business management.

• Research processes have been put in place at the local level. Some members also have small 'laboratories' for experimenting new planting and production methods.

Management

• Jambi Kiwa has developed a sophisticated organization for managing production and ensuring quality control. The association is composed of 400 families, distributed across four  large geographic areas. In each area there is a committee composed of delegates from each community, and one or two delegates from the area participate in the administrative board and the surveillance committee.