Q: What is the mission of Partners in Food Solutions? How does it contribute to our understanding of cereal science in the context of the Global Food System?
A: Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) is an independent nonprofit consortium of six global food companies: General Mills, Cargill, Royal DSM, Bühler, The Hershey Company, and Ardent Mills (www.partnersinfoodsolutions.com). PFS works to increase the growth and competitiveness of food companies in Africa and beyond. In doing so, we improve access to safe, nutritious, affordable food and promote sustainable economic development across food value chains. We do this by inspiring business leaders and connecting highly skilled corporate volunteers from our consortium of leading companies with promising entrepreneurs and other influencers of the food ecosystem.
Our headquarters office is located in Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A. We have a staff of about 20 people, including some who are located in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. Through our partnership with the non-governmental organization (NGO) TechnoServe, we also have a presence in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia.
PFS doesn’t work specifically in cereal science, but many of our clients receive advice from skilled professionals with cereal science backgrounds on matters related to milling or flour-based product development, for instance.
Q: What is the focus of PFS’s work? In what ways does PFS bring innovation to the field of cereal science? How can it shed light on the challenges and opportunities in the global food system?
A: PFS virtually connects professional volunteers from its international corporate partners with African food processing entrepreneurs to help them solve problems and pursue new opportunities. Although we occasionally send volunteers to visit clients in Africa, almost all of our work is done remotely via conference calls, web meetings, e-mail, photos and videos, and file sharing. Field staff on the ground, from both PFS and TechnoServe, also provide direct support and facilitate client requests for assistance and engagement with remote volunteers.
Flour millers and blended-flour processors are the single largest segment of our clients (which also include oilseed, fruit and vegetable, and dairy processors). PFS’s work helps transfer world-class knowledge about food processing to growing businesses in Africa, most of which lack dedicated staff—let alone whole departments—for quality management, R&D, engineering, packaging, marketing, finance, etc. Most PFS clients have fewer than 50 employees and US$1 million or less in annual revenue.
Q: What are the core capabilities of PFS? How many and what types of food professionals does the organization employ?
A: PFS connects volunteer food industry professionals of all types with African food companies. A unique aspect of PFS’s model is that we can find food business skills of any kind, business or technical, among our more than 1,000 registered volunteers from around the globe and match them with the needs of African food processors. More than 60% of our project work is in technical areas, and about 40% is in business. Examples of business projects include business and marketing plans, revised financial management systems and controls, and human resource or people management opportunities. Technical issues encompass the full spectrum of food manufacturing expertise. PFS often engages food scientists or other related experts for projects such as quality and food safety management, new product development, and product improvement. For example, a company may have a shelf-life issue, off-flavors or -odors may be present, or it may want to develop a new product with a new flavor or cooking profile.
A subset of PFS’s work is specifically related to nutrition. We have a large portfolio of project work to help millers fortify their products properly and consistently. We also have worked with companies that sell products with specific nutritional benefits for vulnerable consumers, such as therapeutic foods for malnourished children or famine victims, flour or corn–soy blends, or porridges for school or refugee feeding programs, etc.
In addition to individual customized client support, PFS volunteers also help create and, in some cases, deliver content for sector-wide training events attended by representatives of many food companies and other food ecosystem representatives. Food science is a component in some of these training events, such as understanding aflatoxin and mycotoxin management or fortification.
To give one example of a PFS project, a corn–soy blend producer was experiencing customer complaints about off-odors and -flavors in their product, putting sales contracts at risk. They did not know where in their process to focus, guessing that perhaps the final packaging was an issue. PFS connected them with several volunteers who obtained a sample of the client’s product shipped to their location. They determined that the problem stemmed from inadequate raw material storage and handling procedures and created a new set of procedures for the client to follow that eliminated the quality problems in their corn–soy blend.
In another example, a maize miller wondered if there were any low-cost opportunities to increase revenue by creating a new value-added product, starting with its maize bran, which was sold as a raw feed ingredient. Instead of focusing only on the bran, PFS volunteers helped the company with a formula for a new maize flour blend to make biscuits (cookies), even coaching the client through test baking trials to improve the blend.
Q: When was PFS founded, and who were the key leaders who created the consortium? What are some key milestones in its growth?
A: PFS began in 2008–2009 as a pilot initiative for employees of General Mills. The CEO at the time, Ken Powell, and a group of senior leaders proposed and sponsored an initiative to allow employees to volunteer their time to assist a few small African food companies. In 2011, once the model proved successful, PFS was created as an independent nonprofit organization, and Cargill and Royal DSM joined the consortium. A partnership with TechnoServe funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was fundamental in developing PFS’s client pipeline at the time. Subsequently Bühler, The Hershey Company, and Ardent Mills all joined PFS. We continue to partner with TechnoServe, as well as having some of our own field staff, to identify clients and frame our project work. Over the course of our history, more than 1,600 employees and retirees of the six companies have registered to volunteer with PFS. Today, PFS has a footprint in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana.
Q: In what ways has PFS collaborated with AACCI — Cereal & Grains Association?
A: Although there has been no formal collaboration between PFS and AACCI, many of our volunteers are or have been active members of the association.
Q: How is PFS engaged in government–industry–academia partnerships to enable innovation? Has it explored other partnerships or collaborations?
A: PFS is not a research organization, nor an academic partner. However, it has become a successful example of a public–private partnership that brings together international businesses and development institutions, such as TechnoServe and USAID. In some cases, such as for training events, PFS and TechnoServe have worked with African universities and government agencies, such as bureaus of standards.
