The Apprentice: Kenneth Kibirige
Welcome to PFS’ The Apprentice! We are excited to share this series highlighting the successes of our apprenticeship program, which, since 2016, has paired nearly 200 fresh college graduates with food processors across Africa.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in human nutrition and dietetics, Kenneth Kibirige was placed at SESACO Ltd, a soya processing company in Uganda. Throughout his year-long post, he gained leadership skills, learnt how to collaborate with teams, solve problems and prepare for quality audits. Through PFS’ mentorship program, he was also matched with his mentor @Heidi Emanuel, who shared best practices for documentation, communication, problem-solving and training food handlers and machine operators to promote safety and quality during production. “My favorite part of the apprenticeship was collaborating with PFS volunteers to handle and implement various product quality related projects, like developing a HACCP tool and an interesting real-time shelf-life study evaluation," said Kenneth. "My apprenticeship allowed me to contribute to product improvement and development, essential for a career in food processing. I also gained hands-on experience on ensuring food safety, quality, and general hygiene of a food processing facility.”
Volunteer Research Pays Off with the Perfect Equipment Choice
Thanthwe Enterprises is an integrated agri-business in Malawi that focuses on agro-processing, business incubation and promotion of climate smart agriculture technology, including greenhouses, and solar driers.
Their processing branch manufactures products like hibiscus teas, juices, jams, and spices. Thanthwe was looking to expand their spice production and came to Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) with a unique request. They needed a volunteer to recommend and provide specifications for a stainless-steel hammer mill that they could use to process spices such as ginger, lemongrass and hibiscus. However, they had specific requirements. As much as was possible, the mill needed to be a “one-stop shop” to prevent cross-contamination. It had to have a production capacity of more than one hundred kilograms per hour and must also come with a complete production line set-up (i.e. a hammer mill, vibrating sieves, and packaging equipment).
Nicolas Malnarcic, a pack supervisor at Ardent Mills' Hastings mill in Minnesota volunteered for this task. Before moving to the United States to work at Ardent Mills, Nicolas grew up in Brazil, a country that in a lot of ways he finds similar to some African countries. “I have seen first-hand the impact that sharing knowledge like this can have on developing economies, and PFS is a great vehicle for me to share the knowledge I've acquired working with Ardent Mills!”
The Hastings plant mainly mills wheat and Nick had never worked with tea and spices before. “Though the equipment is similar, the scale and properties of the products are very different. So, I had to use the resources available to me here at Ardent to ask and learn more about the specifics of this process. Luckily, with our extensive network of resources, I was always able to get an answer for my questions, even if it meant poking a bit further than what I normally do.”
Nick worked hard and found suppliers in the US, China, and South Africa. The team agreed that a South African supplier would be the best option as they met all the requirements and would be better at offering customer support due to their proximity to Malawi.
Thanthwe decided on the suitable equipment and vendor based on Nick's recommendations. At the time the project was winding up, they were waiting for their bank to process a loan application, which would be used to purchase the equipment.
The CEO of Thanthwe Enterprises, Ngabaghila Chatata, expressed her satisfaction with the process and the results. She noted, "We got more than we asked for. Nicolas thoroughly researched and shared information we could not have located ourselves. Working with Nicolas also ensured we received information on time to proceed."
Empowering the Growth of African Food Industry Professionals Through Mentorship
Ronald Murungi Kamugisa is a production manager at Psalms Food Industries, a snack producer in Uganda. With the establishment of their new larger factory, Ronald was looking to gain insights on how to maintain production efficiency, ensure consistent product quality and manage an expanding workforce. He decided to join PFS’ mentorship program hoping to be paired with a mentor who could help him drive continuous improvement in the production processes. Through PFS, he was matched with Cristhian Ramirez, a senior program manager at Cargill Colombia.
Cristhian’s background is in supply chain and operations processes, and he has spent the last decade of his professional career working in various capacities in Cargill. Cristhian, who has been a client lead in previous PFS projects, decided to be a mentor to help another professional with their development.
“I am an empathy driven person who thrives on challenges and is constantly looking for new opportunities to learn and teach. The only way to have a better world is to grow together and I know I can help others through sharing knowledge.”
Since the beginning of the year, Cristhian and Ronald have been meeting to discuss several aspects of production like process optimization, quality management, workforce development, production planning, resource management and inventory management.
“Cristhian brought a wealth of experience in optimizing manufacturing processes and managing large-scale production operations to this mentorship. This mentorship has not only empowered me with the skills and confidence to lead my team to new heights but will also significantly contribute to the overall success of Psalms Food Industries. I am now better equipped to help the company navigate the challenges of a growing market while maintaining its commitment to quality and efficiency. I am forever grateful to my dear mentor Cristhian and wish him all the best in life,” said Ronald.
The learning has not been one-sided. Cristhian also shared that he has also improved his communication skills in English and has updated his knowledge in some areas of supply chain and operations. Cristhian and Ronald’s mentorship ends in a few months and they both hope to make the most of the time they have left together.
A Journey of Impactful Volunteering with PFS
“I was particularly interested in learning more about African cultures and now, even though I haven’t yet been to Africa, I’ve made many friends in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi,” said Aashish Mane, business development manager at Bühler.
Originally from India, Aashish started off as a management trainee at Bühler in Austria and recently moved to Switzerland in his current role in their coffee business. Aashish began volunteering in 2021 to use his skills to help African food industry entrepreneurs and has since joined four projects. “I love working with new people who have different experiences, especially small and medium businesses who form the heartbeat of all economies. I also like working with people in the food industry. Partners in Food Solutions lets me do all of that,” said Aashish.
Aashish is currently the client lead for Universal Dairy, a dairy company in Malawi that produces Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk, yogurt and milk-blended juices. Client leads are ‘project managers’ for clients, ensuring that projects run smoothly and get completed in a timely manner. They oversee project teams, manage timelines and act as a point of contact for the volunteer teams and clients. Through this role, Aashish has developed effective project management and communication skills. “Keeping the project on track and seeing that we achieve our objectives has been my main goal as a client lead. With the tools and experiences that PFS brings to the table, it’s been a great, judgment-free environment to learn and practice new skills,” he said. He also previously served as the client lead for GFP Foods in Tanzania and Sylva Foods in Zambia. He helped Sylva Foods secure a loan to purchase maize milling equipment by preparing a tool to calculate the return on investment of the machinery. “Volunteering with Sylva Foods was one of the most fulfilling experiences for me. It was a pleasure to work with their managing director, Mrs. Sylvia Banda, and I was very happy to see pictures and videos of the equipment running,” Aashish shared.
His message to any of his colleagues who are not sure where to start off with volunteering for PFS? “Just dive into it. It’s easy to get started and the connections you make will be very special. Breaking down the problems the business owners face and helping them find solutions along with other volunteers is a joy!”
Gooseberry Fruit Juice Gets Boost on Shelf Life
The cape gooseberry is a fruit that traces its origins to Chile and Peru but now grows in temperate and tropical regions across the world. It is a round, smooth berry that looks like a miniature tomato and has a bright yellow to orange color. In Kenya, gooseberries grow wild and are typically consumed by villagers who pick them from surrounding bushes and forests.
In 2019, after attending an agricultural exhibition that focused on underutilized fruits and crops, Viola Maina left her seventeen-year career in media and advertising to set up Gooseberry Delight (GDL), a business focused on the gooseberry value chain from seed propagation to processing. She wanted to transform the perception and potential of the gooseberry; a fruit that had long been neglected in Kenya. Today, GDL makes fruit jams, sauces, and juices and sells fresh and dried berries to supermarkets.
Gooseberry Delight became a PFS client through the Alliance for Inclusive Nutritious Food Program (AINFP) with USAID and TechnoServe. They asked for help to solve some challenges with their bottled gooseberry fruit juice, which had caused them to withdraw the product from the market. Customers were complaining of bottles of juice ‘swelling up’, as well as issues with taste and separation of the juice. GDL was matched with a pair of volunteers from Cargill and J.M. Smucker Co. to help improve their juice-making process.
Zahara Sotoudeh, a product developer in pet research and development who currently works on cat food, but who has also worked on jams and jellies, Jif and Uncrustables, joined the project to find a solution. She started volunteering in 2021, following management’s encouragement to employees to do so. Zahara saw PFS as a good path to channel her expertise to help others.
The volunteer team first assessed GDL’s production process to find out what was causing the problems. They quickly deduced that the excessive heat being used during production - from the hot water used to wash the berries to hot temperatures during pasteurization - was contributing to the poor taste and color. Zahara and her team recommended chlorinated water for washing the berries and reducing the temperature of the pasteurization. They also helped GDL optimize their production by segregating spaces to prevent recontamination and made proposals to improve their recipe, pasteurization, and packaging processes. The team agreed that the sedimentation was more of an issue of consumer preference than a food safety issue and advised them to include instructions to “shake well” on the product’s label.
Due to this intervention, the gooseberry juice product pulled off shelves is now back on the market. While the juice still has some separation, the bottles no longer swell, and the juice has a significantly better taste and color. The product also has a longer shelf-life.
Based on the project recommendations, GDL plans to conduct homogenization trials with a homogenizer from an external party in the future. Their goal is to identify the best conditions to ensure that the juice has a smooth, uniform texture and does not separate over time. They will also source new packaging material and try vacuum filling for better results. The whole team enjoyed working together, and Gooseberry Delight is incredibly happy with the results of this project.
“This is my third project with PFS, and I keep coming back because I love volunteering. I get to learn about products I am not familiar with. It is also a great chance to network and learn from volunteers from other companies you are partnered with. There’s really this great sense of accomplishment knowing that I have been part of a team that has made a difference for another company,” says Zahara.