Improving availability of safe and nutritious food in the food environment (retail) is critical for improving access to nutrition. SBN has been promoting SMEs and startups to innovate to introduce safe, nutritious food in the market. However, the SMEs have struggled to expand and penetrate due to various barriers. For example, the SMEs have strong interest to sell through the modern retail channels, but they have struggled to enter and penetrate in the modern retail channels. Under the market linkage support activity, SBN facilitate SMEs in expanding and scaling up safe nutritious food in various marketplaces and segments. Under the Market Access support activity, SBN conducts various activities as follows.
- Retail Access Support Activity: The retail system in Myanmar is in transition. Modernization is taking place, and supermarket retail chains and online retail are becoming very popular over time. The modern retail systems offer a better shopping experience and therefore are grabbing market share from traditional retail. Modern retails have own commercial standards and requirements and information about their requirements is not often easily available. Therefore, start-ups, SMEs and manufacturers often struggle in accessing these channels. Many of the local SMEs that produce safe, nutritious food face a similar situation which restricts the availability of safe nutrition in the marketplace. Business support services in this area also lack or are not affordable for start-up SMEs. The SBN members and other SMEs have identified this as one of the key constraints for their business growth and increasing the availability of safe, nutritious food in the marketplace.
SUN Business Network (SBN) Myanmar in collaboration partners has planned a market linkage support activity to address the information asymmetries and facilitate SMEs to penetrate these market channels. SBN conducts targeted exhibitions of such products, connects retailers and producers/SMEs, and conduct knowledge sessions for SMEs on trends in the retail, entry and penetration strategies for retailing etc. This will lead to increased availability of safe, nutritious food in the market. Similarly, this will enable the startups and SMEs in expansion and scaling up safe, nutritious food products.
- Linkages with institutional buyers: SBN makes linkages between healthy food producers/SMEs with development and humanitarian agencies for their food procuring and delivering.
- Linkages with Support/Services Providers: Through SUN Business Network, member SMEs get linkages with business service providers to support nutritious and safe food production and business model development.
