PERFORM RESEARCH ON MARKET, CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND RETAIL’S SOURCING PRACTICES
Request for Proposals (RFP)
CONSULTANT SERVICE TO PERFORM RESEARCH ON MARKET, CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND RETAIL’S SOURCING PRACTICES ON SUSTAINABLE COFFEE, TEA, CACAO AND PALM OIL PRODUCTS IN YOGYAKARTA AND BALI
Summary Information
RA Department: Impact Program
Location(s): Yogyakarta and Bali
Commitment: Four months contract
Desired start date and duration: 1 August – 30 November 2025
Under direction of: Manager, Consumer Campaign and Engagement
About the Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance (RA) is an international nonprofit organization working at the intersection of business, agriculture, and forests to make responsible business the new normal. We are building an alliance to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights, and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. We envision a world where people and nature thrive in harmony.
The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities.
For more information, please visit http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/about.
Overview
The Accelerating Consumer Transformation and Sustainability in Indonesia (ACT!) Project is a joint project between Rainforest Alliance, Sustainable Coffee Platform Indonesia (SCOPI) and the Cocoa Sustainability Partnership (CSP) that aims to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of domestic food consumption in Indonesia mainly of coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil commodities. The project is targeting to increase sustainable production of coffee, cocoa, tea and palm oil in Indonesia by 2028, as a result of increased domestic demand for such products, more conscious consumers, and improved enabling conditions.
At its initial stage, the project needs to obtain baseline information on market and consumer perception towards coffee, cacao, tea and palm oil products in general and those equipped with sustainability certifications such as Rainforest Alliance, RSPO, Fairtrade, etc. On the industry side, baseline information on product’s sourcing by horeca (hotel, restaurants, cafes) and retailers are also required as the project targets to enable horeca and retailer to trade and promote more sustainable options of coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products. The ACT! Project have required the assessment to be perform by a professional consultant with sound experience and proven track record of performing market research, as well as retail and consumer study in Indonesia.
The obtained baseline information will be referred mainly to develop a communication strategy that will be delivered to consumers, horeca, and retailers, specifically in Yogyakarta and Bali to achieve the project’s targeted impact indicators:
· 5% growth rate in domestic consumption of certified or sustainably produced coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil by 2028.
· 800.000 consumers (50% women) in Yogyakarta and Bali with increased awareness and willingness to consume certified or sustainably produced coffee, cacao, tea and palm oil.
Sustainable certifications of coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products cover a range of certification brands. The project is solely focus on Rainforest Alliance and RSPO certifications, however the research is expected to identify consumer’s awareness of certifications that are available in the Indonesian market (specifically Bali and Yogyakarta) as listed below:
· Rainforest Alliance
· RSPO
· Fairtrade
· Fair Trade USA
· Global gap
· Organic
· Cocoa Life
· Cocoa Horizon
· STI-CERTEAFIED (Standar Teh Indonesia)
· INOFICE
· 4C (Common Code for the Coffee Community)
· Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program
· ECOM’s SMS Verified
· NKG BLOOM
· Sucafina – IMPACT
· Perhusa – ARTS
· Volcafe
· Enveritas
· Louis Dreyfus
· C.A.F.E Practices
Aligning to the communication strategy, the research should target end consumers, horeca, and retailers as respondents with the following details:
End consumers:
· 15-65 yo
· Male & Female
· Middle upper class (SES A-B)
· Citizen (minimum 2 years stay)
· High school graduate
· Professional
· Housewife
· Students (high school and university)
· Tourists (foreign and local)
Horeca:
· Members of Eco Tourism Bali
· Members of Signing Blue
· Members of Rainforest Alliance
· Members of SCOPI
· Members of CSP
· Members of RSPO
Retailers:
· Pepito (Bali)
· Papaya (Bali)
· Superindo (Yogyakarta)
Consultancy Scope of Work
Main Objectives
To obtain data and information regarding: 1) market conditions, 2) consumer perception and behavior, and 3) horeca’s and retailers sourcing practices of coffee, tea, cacao, and palm oil products in general and those certified and sustainably produced, which includes:
a. Overall public awareness and responses toward general environmental and social issues in Bali and Yogyakarta.
b. General consumption patterns of coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products by consumers in Yogyakarta and Bali.
c. General consumer awareness about sustainable products and their benefits:
- What is perceived as sustainable products?
- Which products are perceived as sustainable products and why?
d. Availability (in market share percentage, if possible) of certified coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products in the market in Yogyakarta and Bali.
e. Perception about Rainforest Alliance product seal.
f. Awareness and willingness of around 800,000 consumers in Bali and Yogyakarta (50% women) about certified or sustainably produced coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil.
g. Percentage of domestic consumption of certified coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products.
h. How consumers learn about certified or sustainably produced products (e.g. social media, peers, packaging).
i. General consumer’s purchasing behavior in Bali and Yogyakarta:
- What are the priority concerns before purchasing a product?
- Who influences their purchase decisions (e.g. family, friends, influencers)?
- What emotional or practical motivations shape their buying choices?
j. Sourcing practices of horeca and retailers in Yogyakarta and Bali for coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products:
- What are the sourcing criteria?
- How is the procurement procedure (SOP) performed?
- What are the types of relationships and transactions with suppliers?
k. Awareness of horeca and retailers in Yogyakarta and Bali about sustainability, sustainable business practices, and sustainable products in general.
l. Awareness and knowledge of horeca and retailers in Yogyakarta and Bali about certified or sustainable produced coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products.
m. The interests of horeca and retailers in Yogyakarta and Bali to source and promote sustainable coffee, cacao, tea, and palm oil products.
Activities
1. Develop research design and plans to come up with the baseline data. Considering the required information as explained above, the research is encouraged to perform both quantitative and qualitative methods using direct surveys or questionnaires for consumers data and FGDs or in-depth interviews to obtain data from horeca and retailers.
2. Present research design and plans to ACT! Project consortium to obtain agreement before proceeding with the implementation.
3. Implement research and analysis according to the agreed research plans and design.
4. Provide update of research progress to the ACT! Project Consortium.
5. Perform regular coordination with Rainforest Alliance (RA) as the lead consortium on research requirements and activities.
6. Present final research results to ACT! Project consortium.
7. The results from this research will be disseminated publicly by the ACT! Consortium to all relevant stakeholders in Bali, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta, which includes relevant government ministries and instances from national and sub national, horeca and retail industry players, community groups, consumer associations, hospitality business entities and such. ACT! Project consortium will hold a stakeholder gathering to facilitate the dissemination during which the research is expected to be presented by the consultant’s representatives. This gathering is expected to take place earliest on December 2025 or the latest around January-February 2026.
Deliverables
General Terms and Conditions for Request for Proposal
Applicants must provide all requisite information under this RFP and clearly and concisely respond to all points set out in this RFP. Any proposal, which does not fully and comprehensively address this RFP, may be rejected.
Proposals and/or any additional information received after the submission time and date are subject to rejection by RA.
Incomplete proposals may be rejected by RA at its discretion.
RA reserves the right to request additional information at any time during the procurement process.
RA is at liberty to make multiple or no selections as part of the proposal process. RA also reserves the right to cancel the procurement.
All proposal costs shall be borne by the applicant and will not be reimbursed by RA.
It is the responsibility of every bidder to identify any information of a confidential or proprietary nature contained in its proposal so that it may be handled accordingly. However, RA cannot guarantee confidentiality.
Selection Criteria and qualifications
The consultant or consultant firm should comply with the following minimum qualifications:
A minimum of 10 years’ experience consistently performing market and consumer research.
Experienced in working with retail and hospitality industry.
Possess familiarity with respondents’ characters in Yogyakarta and Bali, especially tourists.
Having reliable respondents within Yogyakarta and Bali region.
Possess sound and credible skill of performing analysis on market and consumer perception.
Possesses established network and connection with retailer and hospitality business entities.
Having experience in performing projects relevant to environmental or sustainable development issues.
Possess good understanding on environmental and sustainable development issues. An additional plus would be to have an understanding on sustainable consumption and production concept or practices.
Selection of the consultant or consultant firm is based on the following criteria:
Proposal Process and Format
Interested consultants or consultant firms should submit their proposal including the following:
Statutory Requirements: the consultant should supply all required legal documents: business/work permit, bank details, registration details, tax documents etc.
Technical proposal requirements: Proposal submitted should contain the following information:
o Work plan/technical proposal/methodology/timeline for deliverables
o List of previous engagements that addresses the above experience desired
o Project team profile (including CVs of all team members)
o Contact details of recent references (email and phone number)
Financial proposal requirements: the financial proposal should contain:
§ Detailed budget (in IDR) needed to complete deliverables.
§ Include previous applied rates
All proposals must be submitted in Hirehive as an integrated PDF document (only one file). If you experience problems loading information on the platform, try opening it with different browsers. Proposals received after the deadline stated above will not be evaluated.
Finalists will be notified of their selection by 30 July 2025.
Contact person for questions
Margareth Meutia
mmeutia@ra.org
Deadline for submission of proposals
25 July 2025
Thank you for your interest in working with the Rainforest Alliance