"Incredible potential" in Ghanaian food processing sector, say consortium of multinational food companies

March 14, 2025

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“Incredible potential” in Ghanaian food processing sector, says consortium of multinational food companies

Group including General Mills, Cargill, The Hershey Company, Bühler Group and others hails progress and potential of Ghanaian agribusiness on visit to local businesses in Accra

​Accra, Ghana, March 5, 2025 – A group of multinational food companies, part of a consortium under the global nonprofit Partners in Food Solutions, recently visited local food businesses in Accra. The group witnessed firsthand the transformative work being done to improve food processing and scalability, and praised the growth and potential of Ghana's agribusiness sector.  

Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) is a consortium of leading global food companies – General Mills, Cargill, dsm-firmenich, Bühler, The Hershey Company, Ardent Mills and The J.M. Smucker Company – which provides African food companies with pro-bono technical support in order to help strengthen their capacity. In Ghana, Partners in Food Solutions has supported 36 local companies, connecting them with 348 experts who provided over 10,000 hours of pro-bono consulting.  

The Partners in Food Solutions Board, which includes executives from its consortium members such as General Mills CFO Kofi Bruce and Cargill vice president Sarah Jelkin, convened this week in Accra, Ghana for their board meeting. This is the ​first time the Board has met in Africa since the organization's establishment in 2011.

A press conference concluded the visit, where a panel including PFS CEO Mandla Nkomo, General Mills CFO Kofi Bruce, and Kwasi Nyamekye, CEO of Vester Oils, a PFS client, discussed the challenges and opportunities for growth in Ghana’s agribusiness sector with the PFS consortium’s continued support. 

​​Board members also visited OXY Industries, a food processing and packaging company in Tema, and Gold Coast Foods, a herbs and spices production company, to see Partners in Food Solutions’ unique business-to-business development model in action. The Board met with local entrepreneurs and witnessed firsthand how Partners in Food Solutions is empowering Ghana’s food sector through their direct engagement with Ghanaian food processors.​     ​​         ​​

“This visit reinforces the confidence in Ghana’s food processing industry,” said Mandla Nkomo, CEO of Partners in Food Solutions. “Ghana is uniquely positioned and has incredible potential to drive food security solutions – not only for its people but across the West African region and wider continent. With the right expertise, investment, and partnerships, local food businesses can drive continued growth in the agribusiness sector, which will ultimately create more jobs, improve access to nutritious food, and strengthen the agricultural supply chain.”

Ghana’s agribusiness sector is a key driver of the country’s economy, contributing 24.5 percent to national gross domestic product (GDP). And, the sector is expected to grow by 2.7 percent annually through 2028.

By fostering strategic partnerships between global corporations and local businesses, bringing global expertise to Ghana, Partners in Food Solutions is aiming to support this growth, meanwhile creating sustainable opportunities within the sector and helping to build food systems security across the region.

 Ends

About Partners in Food Solutions:

Partners in Food Solutions, a consortium of leading global food companies – General Mills, Cargill, dsm-firmenich, Bühler, The Hershey Company, Ardent Mills and The J.M. Smucker Company – works in partnership to help strengthen the capacity of more than 2,400 African food companies in 11 countries. Employees of our corporate partners share their technical and business expertise directly with entrepreneurial Africa food companies with the goal of improving food security across the continent. More than 2,300 corporate partners' employees have contributed 170,000 pro-bono consulting hours, working directly with our African clients to improve food quality, safety and availability. 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Nikki See, Partners in Food Solutions

[email protected] | +1-612-242-9852 (WhatsApp available)  

Harvey Presence, Marchmont Communications

[email protected] | +44 7582 195 497

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General Mills
General Mills, the founding member of Partners in Food Solutions, is one of the world’s leading food companies, operating in more than 100 countries and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Cargill
Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 150,000 people in 70 countries.
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DSM
With a nearly 30,000 strong team and unparalleled capabilities built on more than a century of cutting-edge science, dsm-firmenich is a trailblazer in the reinvention, manufacturing, and combination of vital nutrients, flavors, and fragrances.
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Bühler
Bühler is a global leader in the field of process engineering, in particular production technologies and services for producing foods and manufacturing advanced materials. Bühler operates in over 140 countries and has a over 10,000 employees worldwide.
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Hershey
The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, PA, is a global confectionery leader known for bringing goodness to the world through its chocolate, sweets, mints and other great-tasting snacks.
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Ardent Mills
Ardent Mills is committed to transforming how the world is nourished.
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Smucker's
Inspired by more than 120 years of business success and five generations of family leadership, The J. M. Smucker Company makes food that people and pets love. The Company’s portfolio of 40+ brands, which are found in 90 percent of U.S. homes and countless restaurants, include iconic products consumers have always loved such as Folgers, Jif and Milk-Bone plus new favorites like Café Bustelo, Smucker’s Uncrustables and Rachael Ray Nutrish.
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