Malawi is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, ranked as one of the poorest in the world, with about 70% of the population currently living below the $2.15 per day international poverty line. The situation has been exacerbated in the last two years, following currency devaluations by the country’s central bank which has seen the Malawian Kwacha lose nearly half its value against the US dollar. The resulting price hikes in commodities, fuel and utilities, has led to increased production costs for manufacturers across all sectors. 

PFS client Chibuku Products Ltd. (CPL) is one of these producers, who has not been spared. CPL produces ‘maheu’ a traditional Southern-African drink made from maize flour, milk, sugar, and flavors. It is usually consumed as a whole meal because it leaves consumers very full. As the Kwacha weakened and inflation soared, CPL saw its production costs skyrocket. The beloved maheu faced threats to its production viability due to soaring costs of imported ingredients. “At the rate things were going, it was going to become unprofitable to produce the maheu drink,” said James Chimtengo, quality manager for Chibuku Products Ltd. 

They reached out to PFS for help and the challenge was clear: help them reduce production costs without compromising the integrity, taste, or nutritional value of maheu. With the expertise of dsm-firmenich’s Zhen Wang, a senior fermentation operations scientist, based in Maryland, USA, the journey toward a more sustainable maheu began. Zhen joined this project (her first with PFS) following a recommendation from her colleague who knew she would be a great fit. “We began the project with a very simple information sheet, so our first few meetings were to understand the situation and the need. I have never been to Africa, so all my understanding and knowledge was based on Google or research.” 

Through countless meetings and a meticulous examination of the production process, Zhen worked with CPL towards innovation. Using lean methodology, she analyzed their production process and made proposals for them to review. They then discussed the feasibility of each suggestion and followed up on the actionable items. Mr. Chimtengo said, “As difficult as we were, giving reasons why several suggestions could not work, Zhen continued availing herself for our online meetings. She listened to us, took notes, re-examined the production process, and made new recommendations. This required commitment, and she was blessed with lots of it.” 

The breakthrough came with bold decisions. Milk was replaced with high-quality, creamy powdered milk. The result? A reformulated maheu recipe that not only met the stringent quality standards but also reduced production costs by half. With every sip of maheu, affordability and sustainability now intertwine seamlessly. Chibuku is already making significant profits from the sale of the reformulated drink on the market. Reflecting on the collaboration, Zhen Wang shared, “I really enjoyed working with Chibuku. They were responsive and challenging. I was happy to help and learned a lot from them in the process too.” 

Sanavita Company Ltd is a Tanzanian food processor that aims to address the country’s high rate of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies by increasing awareness and promoting the consumption of biofortified foods. They are currently known for their fresh orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) and its flour. OFSP is a special type of biofortified sweet potato that contains high levels of beta-carotene, that is converted to Vitamin A in the body. It is important for vision, growth, cell division, reproduction, and immunity. Sanavita ventured into a bakery line to diversify their product portfolio and provide more nutritious offerings to their community and beyond. They contacted PFS and Technoserve for help to improve their bread and biscuit formula and were paired with volunteers from General Mills and Cargill. 

Cargill’s Aaron Reed was the perfect fit for this project. He is a senior food scientist who works in the bakery applications team within the food and bioindustrial ingredients business. He has 21 years of food industry experience, most of which has been in research and development for bakery products. “I have had the pleasure of working with many smart and talented people over my career and have learned so much from them. I want to be able to pass that knowledge along to others to help them make the best products possible,” said Aaron. “I also enjoy learning about new products and cultures and have enjoyed the teaching aspect that comes when sharing knowledge with others.” 

Aaron was not familiar with recipes for sweet potato buns or cookies and he did not have certain ingredients (like bean powders) on hand, so it took some time for him to understand the critical attributes of the products. Despite this, he worked with the Sanavita team who shared photos and provided detailed descriptions, allowing him to understand the type of product they wanted to make, propose some formulas, and do some benchwork to test the proposed formulas. Further discussions helped the volunteer team understand what the client liked and disliked about the recipes and fine tune the product. 

By the end of the project, Sanavita had a much improved product which has received very positive feedback from customers. “The procedure shared by the volunteers was very useful and I learned how to follow a step-by-step approach to product formulation,” said Sanavita Ltd.’s Managing Director Jolenta Joseph. The whole team appreciated the opportunity to work together, and it was a good experience for all who were involved. “This was one of my favorite projects to have been able to work on so far with PFS. I am impressed with those who are willing to go out on a limb to start a business or who are trying to grow their existing business. It is not easy, so if I can help in some small part of that, it is satisfying to me to be able to help them improve the products they are offering.” 

Check out our newest annual report, covering our fiscal year 2024. Highlights include a look at PFS' recently completed three-year strategy successes and the volunteers who made our six year partnership with TechnoServe so impactful. 

READ THE FULL REPORT

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.”