IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPARENCY FOR PREMIUM BRANDS — with Honey Pride Limited

Hello Sam, first of all, thank you for your time and opportunity for us to share your experience and view on transparency. To begin, please give the readers some background about you and your company Honey Pride?

Honey Pride limited is an agriculture-based private company established in 2015 in Uganda. It is a company 100% owned by Ugandans. It focuses on beehive products, mainly bee honey, bee wax, and bee propolis. Honey pride is involved in the entire value chain, from farming to the final packed product sold on the shelves to ensure its highest quality standards.

You are a honey producer, but your honey is no ordinary honey. Can you please explain why your honey is so special?

The Honey Pride products are all about quality. We put a lot of effort and investment into making sure the quality is exceptional. Our products are all-natural, without any additives, and full of important nutrients. The quality is monitored throughout the value chain. It is harvested, transported, stored, and processed with professional equipment and is done hygienically to ensure no contamination.

Where is your honey coming from, and how is it farmed?

All the honey is coming from the northwest part of Uganda, called the West Nile region. The honey is farmed by small scale farmers from all corners of the West Nile region. It is a rural area full of natural woodlands and grasslands, resulting in all-natural and delicious honey.

To ensure quality, we provide capacity building programs, equipment, and inputs to the farmers. We also link them with financial services that offer them flexible and affordable financing to start their activity. This way, we help the framers produce high-quality products and control the quality to make sure it is consistent. Importantly, Honey Pride provides a stable offtake from the farmers, giving them a steady income. This helps them in the planning of their farming practices and expansion.

How is the honey processed, and are there any additives added during the processing?

The honey is all-natural and is processed in a safe and hygienic environment to keep it clean, safe from contaminations, and keep all the qualities that make our honey special.

At the moment, our honey is packed in high-quality plastic packaging, but we are transitioning into glass jars. Those buying premium honey are also looking for premium packaging, and as we aim to establish our honey as a premium product, we need to meet the customer’s expectations.

Before phy2app, have you implemented any transparency in your company?

Transparency was an essential aspect of our business since its inception. Our company was set up with transparency in mind. All the processes and internal organization are designed to have a clear image of all the main transparency aspects, such as the honey’s origin and how it is processed. Transparency helps us build the trust that our product is of high quality, all-natural, and safe to enjoy. Disclosure of product and process information is the key to establishing the premium standard of our product. Transparency is also especially essential for us to stand out from other competing products.

How has phy2app helped you understand what transparency is and the key transparency information chapters to be disclosed?

Phy2app has raised the bar. Before, we had good knowledge about the product’s origin, how it was farmed, processed, and our impact on the farmers. Still, we did not know how to put all this information into a structured form and communicate it effectively. Now with phy2app, we can organize and share the transparency information with a broader group of customers and enjoy the benefit of running a transparent business.

How was the process of implementing phy2app?

Implementing phy2app has been a simple process. It is an intuitive and easy-to-use tool that allows us to organize all of the relevant information quickly. We were already considering transparency before, so it was easy to gather all the information and made the implementation even smoother. Phy2app also generated the label’s design with the QR code so that once we entered all the information, we were able to quickly add the QR code to our product packaging.

Now that you have implemented phy2app and have the phy2app labels with QR codes on your products, what has been your customer’s response?

The phy2app labels were implemented as part of our rebranding. The rebranding included new, more appealing product labels, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Q mark (quality mark), and the addition of phy2app labels. Customers are pleased to learn in detail about the product, where it comes from, the farmers that harvest the honey, and how the honey is processed. The impact and feedback have been very positive and encouraging.

Would you recommend other companies and brands to add transparency to their agenda?

In brief, I would say Yes. Transparency is becoming a critical demand of the customers and a major concept in the business processes. Especially in the food industry, people want to know more about what they are consuming. Suppose companies can disclose a high degree of details about the product, the processes, and the companies impact on society and the environment. In that case, they will be able to make a significant impact on their market position.

I would recommend companies to use phy2app as a tool to organize and communicate their transparency information.

In conclusion, Honey Pride has successfully implemented phy2app to communicate its transparency information to a wider customer base in an effective way. They are building trust in their brand and are enjoying all the other benefits of being a transparent brand. If you wish to do the same, please contact us at info@anteja-africa.com, and we will be happy to assist you in implementing phy2app.