In Loco, a development agency based in São Brás de Alportel, and other local partners will host an in-person session with Mathew John, a leading international practitioner in product development and marketing, on Monday, March 23, at 6pm.
Early 2026 extended inclement weather has directly affected Portuguese producers, exacerbating longer-term changes in rural life and complicating access to new markets, particularly among the foreigner communities crucial to the Algarve and Alentejo economies. The session aims to introduce constructive perspectives and practical experience from elsewhere to support local producers and small enterprises.
Mathew John is one of the founders of India’s Keystone Foundation and has led the organisation for over 30 years. He now heads Last Forest Enterprises, which links indigenous communities across 150+ villages in the Kotagiri/Nilgiris area of Tamil Nadu to local and international markets.
Last Forest manages the full supply chain for organic, fair-trade forest products including sustainably harvested honey, beeswax items, spices and millets distributed through 100+ outlets and certified under World Fair Trade Organisation standards. Mathew also serves as head of IFOAM Organics for the Asia region.
Matthew says: “I’m pondering small business resilience in places like Portugal, where I would like to learn from SMEs. Do they show fewer insolvencies, stronger investment confidence? Are they able to focus on innovation despite volatility? How do they balance producer value generation at small scales? Constant pivots are tough without scale. I am curious about local Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)/honey models for lessons on weathering shocks.”
Participants will learn from Last Forest’s experience in indigenous food production and diversification into wellness products. Topics will include:
- Quality standards for cultivation and harvesting
- Product conservation and transit logistics
- Investment in processing equipment
- Marketing and distribution support systems
- Creating consumer interest in product categories and wellbeing trends
- Strategies for entering new markets.
Mathew will also describe the uncertainties of relying on wild-harvested goods and the staffing and capacity challenges encountered when expanding to external markets.
He is eager to learn from local Algarve/Alentejo experience regarding insolvency rates, investment confidence, innovation capacity, and small-scale value generation.
The presentation will be in English; translation to Portuguese and French (and vice-versa) will be provided. The venue is the In Loco association HQ at Campus da Boa Esperança, Av. da Liberdade, nº 101, 8150-101 São Brás de Alportel.
