Initially, the realization of this project led me developing different skills and knowledge learned during the time I spent at university in the major of International business management. Furthermore, it allowed me to have a closer view of the process of international trade, considering that I work daily this topics at Procolombia, the company where I am doing the internship, and where I make marketing research, I talk with different businessmen who are exporting panela, also, I have learnt from the experts in the panela field in Colombia and from the trainings in international trade and the legal issues in the process, market analysis, identification of potential markets. All these have enriched building my project. The market for the natural sweeteners globally according to different researches made by Euromonitor Internacional it has had increasingly an important role in different markets, especially in the Unites States and Europe. In addition, each time exist more people that abstain from refined sugar, because they are afraid of illness as the obesity o cancer caused by products made with chemicals. Thus, consumer trends are moving towards the search by people for natural foods, within which non-chemical sweeteners are that provide high nutritional value. In the same way, The European Union becomes in an attractive market for exporting natural sweeteners, this due to the trends to the european people towards eating healthy food according to the market research by the Ministry of foreign affairs(CBI). Thus, the country with the highest rates of consumption of organic food is Germany, added to it in consumer’s habits are important because sweeteners are used in the tea and coffee intake which is high and in winter it is even higher. Likewise, it was identified an opportunity, because the sweeteners German market is controlled mainly for chemical sweeteners, however, the consumers, according to Procolombia give a high value to non-chemical sweeteners or organic sweeteners, besides to be important the precedence and the history of the product. In addition, it was perceived that the panela could have great potential in this market. So, this business model facilitates access the German consumer to a natural sweetener, beneficial to health and the sense of tradition Colombian origin. Finally, after various elements analyzed the project was developed, as a result it was proposed an added value sweetener that can compete, stay and grow in the German market.
