During his 21-year career with General Mills, Bernhard van Lengerich saw the power of philanthropy up close through the company’s foundation as well as many of its volunteer programs. He also had the opportunity to travel to East Africa with Partners in Food Solutions (PFS), a Minnesota-based and General Mills-founded non-profit organization which provides expertise to African food businesses primarily from volunteer employees of world-class food companies. Bernhard went on this trip to learn more about the food value chain and to see up close the work Partners in Food Solutions was doing and how it was helping to improve global food security. He returned to the US motivated.
“The discrepancy in food access and food supply between this region and western geographies or the ‘global north’ are staggering. Within less than 10 hours you can travel from a world where hundreds of millions of people are starving, struggling to find food, are undernourished and stunted, to a world where food is in abundance. Research data shows that in the U.S. alone, over 40% of all food is wasted or lost - equivalent to over $400 billion. Over 80% of the population is metabolically unhealthy and more than two-thirds are either obese or overweight,” van Lengerich said.
“My experiences in Africa along with my work experience at General Mills - a company with philanthropy at its soul - shaped the fundamental beliefs that led me to setting up Seeding The Future Foundation. These fundamentals still guide the foundation today: 1. Everyone must have equitable access to safe and nutritious food that is affordable, attractive, and trusted; 2. Chronic hunger is unacceptable, and 3. Game-changing ideas always start small in the lab but can have a transformative impact at scale when nurtured and enabled to grow.”
The van Lengerich’s and their Seeding the Future Foundation, have supported Partners in Food Solutions’ program in East Africa for a long time. An initial philanthropic investment of $500,000 led to a further unrestricted gift of $1.1 million in 2019 to PFS’ Kenya program. This has allowed Partners in Food Solutions to work with almost 40 food companies, 44% of which are female-owned or managed. These companies employ over 3,600 people and have a supplier base of over 113,000 farmers.
Of particular importance to van Lengerich is Partners in Food Solutions’ apprenticeship program, which allows graduates with food science degrees to learn the trade up close and provide qualified support to companies who need to staff their labs and other areas of operations. van Lengerich, who himself completed two apprenticeships early in his career – one as a baker and one as a pastry chef – said he wanted Seeding The Future Foundation to help talented students be able to support the growth of African food companies. He sees the program as a bridge for students coming out of academia to their professional lives.
“We’re happy and honored to be able to support this program. It’s really great to see how bright students get educated and ready to go into the work environment, and then contribute to a better food supply overall. That’s why it’s a joy working with Partners in Food Solutions,” van Lengerich said.
“For every person we support, there is a contribution that the person is making to safer and higher quality food, which will help to improve the value chain in Kenya. While the program directly benefits students who are employed by food companies, the indirect impact on a safer and more nutritious food supply and society is many times bigger.”
Since June 2019, PFS has placed 34 apprentices in food production businesses. Of those who completed the one-year training, 38% have gotten jobs with that company, while 41% are employed elsewhere. More yet go on to further their education. The goal, said Magdalene Mbaga, director of service innovation and impact at PFS, “is to get them their first job out of college in the food industry, and keep them there.”
“There’s not enough support for food companies,” Mbaga said. “There’s a lot of donor attention around farmers, and there’s really no one else out there that exclusively focuses on the food companies that are going to take the farmers’ harvest, clean it better, and formulate it into healthy, nutritious foods in a way that it can be safely kept on the shelves for longer.”
Mbaga said that Partners in Food Solutions typically works with food businesses in Kenya that are ready to take their companies to the next level, but don’t have access to needed expertise in the market. Outside of the apprenticeship program, Seeding The Future Foundation’s gift has helped support 90 projects, as well as 66 mentorships in Kenya. It has also helped support clients with financing, consultations on equipment and finance, and food processing certification.
“What makes us different - and the only way that we can do this - is by hiring our own staff who are food scientists from Kenya, educated in Kenya, who understand the entire food processing system there, and can develop these long-term relationships with our clients and understand their needs,” Mbaga said. “Private donors like Bernhard and the van Lengerich’s Seeding The Future foundation make this possible. Without their help, we would be saying goodbye to clients and leaving them without the support that they need to grow and to solve problems. We are so grateful for partners like Seeding The Future Foundation.”
About PFS: Since its inception in 2008, PFS has engaged 2,145 volunteers to assist over 2,300 food processing companies in 11 African countries with their expertise in areas such as product formulation and improvement, quality and regulatory, project engineering and business strategy. These efforts have contributed to providing 44.6 billion safer, more nutritious and affordable meal servings for people on the African continent.
Diana Mboya is a PFS apprentice who serves as a quality assurance officer with Abysinia Dairy in Kenya. Diana joined the company in 2023, after graduating with a BSc in Food Science and Technology from the University of Nairobi. As part of her apprenticeship program, Diana was paired with a mentor, Xin Stannard, a co-pack quality engineer with Ardent Mills. Xin’s approach to the mentorship was to get to know her mentee well enough to understand her needs and challenges and leverage her strengths and expertise to help her grow.
This month, their year-long mentorship draws to a close and Diana has some great feedback to share. "I want to give a huge thanks to PFS for the opportunity granted to me and especially the mentorship program. It has been invaluable for me." Diana's relationship with her mentor has been characterized by understanding, support and a shared commitment to growth. She shares, "I am pleased with the way the mentoring scheme has progressed and I feel that I have benefited greatly from being able to discuss not only work-related topics, but general life issues.”
Xin provided guidance to Diana on the relevant professional skills she could build. With her mentor's advice, Diana delved into a series of online courses, obtaining certifications in ISO 45001:2018, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, Food Safety and HACCP level 2 (sponsored by PFS). She is currently working on an ISO 17025:2017 certification. Xin also took the extra step of investing in Diana’s professional development by sponsoring an online training course on Infographics and Data Visuals.
Diana acknowledges the personal touch in her mentorship, sharing, "I feel so comfortable talking to my mentor; it's amazing. I couldn’t be happier with the quality of mentorship I have received and with the way that this was all organized centrally by PFS." Beyond certifications, Xin has helped Diana to refine her resume and has played a pivotal role in shaping her perspective on career and success. Reflecting on the mentorship's profound impact, "My mentor has been a game-changer for me. Thank you so much PFS."
Diana's and Xin’s journey exemplifies the essence of a successful PFS mentorship – a collaborative effort of two parties learning from each other and growing together. As we celebrate stories like hers, we are reminded of the true power and impact of mentorship.
Jonathan Griebel is a food industry veteran with 40 years of diverse experience. He started off as a chef for the first 15 years of his career and then moved into food manufacturing. He is currently based in the United States as a food scientist in Cargill’s protein group.
Jonathan has been a dedicated PFS volunteer for the last ten years, using his skills and expertise to help African food processors develop sustainable businesses. Jonathan grew up in Nigeria, where his parents served as missionaries and he has always tried to follow their example of giving back to others. Last year, Jonathan and a packaging food scientist from General Mills, were paired with a spice-processing company in Côte d’Ivoire called Société Ivoirienne de Transformation du Vivrier, also known as SITRAV. The company was having shelf-life issues with their packaged spice line. The spices developed mold and changed color a few months after production.
The volunteers went through SITRAV’s production process - from reception of the raw materials to sorting, grinding, drying and packaging - to try to identify the issues. It was through this that Jonathan observed inconsistencies in the moisture content and quality of the spices after they were dried. “It was a really interesting project for me because it took me back to my core food science experience. With our combined understanding of the general parameters of food science as volunteers, we identified factors such as the pH and packaging, which were contributing to the deterioration of the spices,” Jonathan said. However, they discovered that SITRAV’s key challenge was the moisture content of their product. “We found out that the team tested moisture content by hand, which was not very effective.”
The volunteers concluded that a limit of ten percent moisture in the spices would be acceptable. However, this precise measurement could only be done with a moisture analyzer. Jonathan connected with his colleagues in Cargill Cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire to ask for their support. “I just went on to the Cargill website and sent an email to the quality assurance team in Côte d’Ivoire, none of whom I knew before, and in typical Cargill fashion they were very willing to help SITRAV out.”
The team had a moisture analyzer to spare which they graciously donated to SITRAV. And they didn’t stop there. They also trained the SITRAV team on the use, calibration and maintenance of the equipment.
The project’s result had a positive domino effect. The elimination of the mold led to longer shelf life and fewer complaints from suppliers. This allowed SITRAV to expand their distribution and gave them access to supply mainstream grocery stores.
Mr. Béni Ngouan, operations director of SITRAV shared how valuable this project was to them. “The support was very enriching for us. Thanks to the analysis of our production process carried out by the volunteers, we improved our hygiene practices to reduce the risk of contamination. Thanks to them too, we were supported by Cargill Côte d’Ivoire. We are very grateful to the volunteers and to PFS,”he said.
For Jonathan, “It’s great that Cargill gives us the opportunity to work on these projects with PFS. SITRAV’s founders were so pleasant to work with. I also got the chance to practice some of the French I’ve picked up over the years and learned more about Côte d’Ivoire and Cargill’s cocoa business in the country. Volunteering on projects like this makes me a better, happier and more valuable Cargill employee.”
Tell us about yourself and what you do at General Mills
My name is Gabby Kouneva and I am a team leader in the General Mills pet department at our research and development center. I currently live in Minnesota with my three cats and I love to travel, hike, read a good mystery novel, and watch Formula One racing!
What was your main motivation for volunteering with PFS?
I wanted to help make a more direct impact on smaller companies outside of General Mills.
What has been your most interesting volunteering/project experience?
I got to work with a company in Tanzania that was trying to eliminate yeast and mold in their yogurt. It was very interesting for me since I have never worked with dairy and I learned a lot about making yogurt from the other volunteers and our client.
What skills have you developed as a client lead?
I have picked up some really good project management skills - leading teams across multiple time zones and keeping everyone on track and the project moving forward. I have definitely applied these learnings to my job as I lead through big projects and keep the momentum going.
What's your favorite part of volunteering?
Meeting, getting to know, and working with many different people around the globe.
What would you say to any colleague thinking about volunteering with PFS?
Sign up and volunteer! Sign up for something that you have passion around so it does not feel like work, or sign up as a client lead for something that you are unfamiliar with so you can broaden your knowledge!
In the world of food production, turning surplus ingredients into new, delicious products is a challenge that Co-op Ca Coprodigo,(“Coprodigo”) has enthusiastically embraced. The company, based in Côte d’Ivoire currently makes a diverse range of cashew-based products, including flavored cashews such as pepper, salt, and chocolate-coated, as well as creamy cashew butter.
They reached out to PFS for insight on how to transform surplus crushed cashews from their production process into innovative, tasty snacks. PFS connected them with Samantha Klein-Vidal, a research and quality technician at Ardent Mills.
Samantha and her co-volunteer from Cargill brainstormed and shared an impressive array of 21 recipes. From meringue toffees to cashew nut brittles, their brainstorming sessions produced culinary delights. From the numerous recipes, the Coprodigo team selected four recipes that stood out: a sugar and honey bar, chocolate candy with cashew, cashew cookie, and cashew clusters.
Coprodigo was very responsive and rapidly went into the testing phase for their upcoming star, Cashew Clusters. This exciting new product is a testament to the power of collaborative brainstorming and innovation. From discussions on the project call, the company has also explored additional avenues of processing cashew, such as cashew nut oil, roasted and unroasted cashew flour (potentially for mixing with baby food), cashew nut brittles, biscuits and coated cashew snacks.
Anne Tolou, marketing manager at Coprodigo, expressed her gratitude for the creative recommendations provided by Samantha and the volunteer team, emphasizing the company's commitment to staying fresh and expanding in the market. "These recipes will help us get there," she said with optimism.
Coprodigo's mission to add value to their surplus crushed cashews is an inspiring example of sustainability and innovation in the food industry. Samantha looks forward to the success of Coprodigo’s introduction of these new creations to new markets.