Retired General Mills Volunteer Guides Client Through Successful Audit

In 2012, three friends - Jane Maigua, Charity Ndegwa and Loise Maina, who had over thirty years of combined experience in entrepreneurship and agribusiness – came together to establish a macadamia nut processing and export company, with the goal of supporting smallholder farmers and developing local communities in Kenya. The trio set up Exotic EPZ Ltd to create a sustainable and inclusive agribusiness value chain, with a special focus on women and youth.  

Like many entrepreneurs across the world, they faced hurdles setting up their business. One of the challenges they faced was finding the right technical and business solutions for their company. 

This is where Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) stepped in, offering the expertise of volunteers from their global corporate partners to food processors in Africa. Since 2019, PFS has supported Exotic EPZ with a range of services such as process layouts and development, finance advisory services and mentorships for their management team.  

They were assisted in their most recent project by General Mills’ retiree Garry Hellmich, who helped them prepare for an international audit.  Exotic EPZ exports its macadamia nuts to several countries, including the United States. To meet U.S. regulations, they needed to undergo a mandatory facility audit by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and reached out to PFS for assistance. 

Garry was initially hesitant when asked to help Exotic EPZ prepare for the FDA audit. “I was a little reluctant to accept because FDA audits had changed a lot since I was a quality manager at General Mills,” he said. So, he reached out to a colleague who updated him on the requirements. After his first meeting with the Exotic team, he realized that while they had good food safety systems, they had no knowledge of the FDA. He came up with a plan to modify their existing programs into a food safety plan.  “From there, it was just helping them understand the format of an FDA audit, how to interact with the auditor, and how to prepare the factory for the audit. The team was great to work with as we prepared for the audit.”  

The audit went well, with only two minor recommendations, and the FDA auditor was impressed with the Exotic EPZ facility overall. CEO Jane Maigua shared, “The audit was a great success, and Exotic stood out as the best company among all those the auditor visited in Kenya. We are incredibly proud of our team, and the support we received from Garry over the period was invaluable.”  

Achievements like these reinforce PFS’ commitment to empower food processors across Africa to achieve excellence in quality and safety and thrive in a competitive, global market.