Premium Hortus

Johannes Goudjanou, CEO and Co-Founder, Premium Hortus

Premium Hortus’s journey began in 2012 with the founding of a collective of young agribusiness enthusiasts known as the BYAM Project (Beninese Young Agribusiness Men Project) in Benin. By 2013, BYAM had completed its first acquisitions by connecting agroecologists with buyers and initiating the cultivation of five key crops in Glazoué, central Benin: yams, cassava, chillies and traditional vegetables. As a result of numerous research and experimental projects, Premium Hortus was established through this collective. It was the first platform for agroecology in Africa.

Premium Hortus specialises in e-commerce of agroecological products, organic production and producer support in Benin. Available as a web and mobile platform, Premium Hortus allows consumers (mainly households, restaurants and hotels) to choose from and subscribe to a large variety of organic certified products, including biological farm inputs. In addition, it offers training and counselling to agroecological enterprises (mostly farmers) through its Hortus Agriboost programme, which mostly focuses on helping create business plans, fundraising and offering legal advice (e.g. on access to public finance or tax exemptions). A second programme, Hortus Starting, focuses on bringing organic (biological) products to national, regional and international markets.

In the Agriboost programme, agroecological companies are selected without strict criteria. The programme welcomes all, whether they have a developed business idea or not. To ensure diverse participation, it remains open and accessible to anyone interested in sustainable agriculture. The programme collaborates with participants to agree on a fair training price, fostering affordability and mutual understanding. This inclusive approach supports various agroecological initiatives, promoting innovation and sustainability in agriculture.

Premium Hortus provides access to agroecological products for more than 1,200 urban households that have subscribed to its offers. Across all its programmes and activities, Premium Hortus creates at least 1,000 indirect jobs, including for rural farmers, 70% of which are women and young people. While farmers profit from lower production costs, increased revenues and improved living conditions, subscribers can reduce their food waste by 60%. Given e-commerce’s rapidly growing share of trade, Premium Hortus’s digital business model has great market potential, without the enterprise needing to noticeably increase its fixed costs. For example, it has been looking to partner with agri-processors to expand its product range of agroecological or certified organic products.

Premium Hortus is strategically positioning itself for expansion by focusing on several key initiatives. Firstly, it aims to expand the size of its agroecological training farms, ensuring more farmers can build their capacity in agroecological farming. Secondly, the enterprise is actively pursuing opportunities to extend its distribution network into new markets, including countries like the United States. Additionally, it is gearing up to tap into the European market by exporting Benin honey to the European Union. To fuel these growth endeavours, the enterprise is seeking investment to to help it realise its commitment to fostering agroecological practices while maximising market opportunities.

Through its online platform that focuses on selling locally sourced organic and agroecological produce and inputs, Premium Hortus supports shorter supply chains, increases equity in food systems, creates local value and provides a specialised market space for agroecological produce. It further reduces waste through recycling and food donations/transfers (CONSOM’Acteur), working towards a more circular food system.

Premium Hortus’s provision of training courses to its producers demonstrates that equality and building on local knowledge is core to what it does. With its focus on maintaining a broad partner and consumer base that is 65% made up of women, it further addresses gender imbalances in food systems.

Premium Hortus has been recognised with the World Future Council’s Outstanding Practices in Agroecology 2019 award.

The enterprise has financed its operations without relying on bank loans, primarily using funds from its partners. Additionally, it has secured funding through various competitions, including the AFD Digital Challenge prize in 2021, which focuses on climate protection and biodiversity. Furthermore, winning the Start-up Tremplin UEMOA prize facilitated Premium Hortus’s acquisition of its agroecology training farm facilities. Lastly, the enterprise received the Climate Initiative Award at COP23, further highlighting its success in obtaining financial support and recognition through competitions and awards.