A Decade of Dedication: Rose Barry’s Remarkable Commitment to COMACO and PFS

For more than a decade, General Mills scientist Rose Barry has been a steady, trusted partner to PFS clients—bringing technical expertise, encouragement, and an unwavering commitment that has shaped their growth. But there is one company that has been at the center of her efforts – COMACO, a Zambian processor who makes a variety of natural food products. Since 2018 alone, Barry has supported COMACO through 36 individual services, from project leadership to specialized R&D guidance. Her deep, sustained involvement reflects not only her personal dedication, but the powerful impact a single volunteer can make through Partners in Food Solutions. 

Barry’s long-term partnership has helped COMACO navigate challenges in product development, equipment decisions, and food safety—always with the steady hand of someone who knows how to translate complex science into practical solutions. And as COMACO continues strengthening its operations, Barry remains a constant presence, exemplifying the spirit of collaboration at the heart of PFS. 

COMACO and Partners in Food Solutions go way back: In fact, the Zambian food processing company was PFS’s first client. Since then, volunteers have helped COMACO solve a variety of business and food processing challenges. Stuart Hall, chief operating officer at COMACO, said their strength is making things “the way products used to be made” – minimalistic, additive free, and high quality. COMACO’s farmers use sustainable or regenerative methods to grow the crops that the company then processes into products like peanut butter. 

“Having the expertise of large organizations really helps us to develop an understanding of what we need to do, whether it’s what equipment are we going to buy, how we are processing, challenges that we have from food safety issues,” Hall said of working with PFS volunteers from companies like General Mills. 

Barry herself is a perfect example—her breadth of expertise embodies the very support Hall describes. Having worked on many General Mills products during her 18-year career, Barry considers herself a “breadth person” – someone who knows a little about a lot of different facets of food processing. This has made her extremely valuable to COMACO, because she can provide insight on a wide range of topics. 

“In an area where businesses are less developed, it really felt like I was adding more value to people with what I knew,” Barry said. “The world is smaller than we think. You want to help locally when we can, and I do do that. But I feel like I have a greater impact overall when I volunteer with PFS.” 

She’s also leveraged her experience to progress her career at General Mills. When Barry first began volunteering, she was interested in a global role. PFS helped her get there. 

“I thought if I can help share my expertise with somebody, that sounds great,” Barry said. “I was also personally really interested in a future role in a more global, international part of the company – maybe if I do this with PFS it will give me more empathy for the global consumer and I can leverage that in my development also.” 

Hall said working with Barry energized his team and kept them accountable to their own goals, ensuring projects progressed on time. While COMACO is interested in expanding the reach of its exports as consumers in higher-income countries become increasingly discerning about the origin of products they buy, Hall said they don’t currently operate at a scale that would make that plausible. But working with PFS allows his team to see what’s possible, he said. 

“If we look at what we do in comparison to General Mills in terms of scale of a product, it’s a massive learning experience for us to understand that there’s General Mills factories out there that turn over billions not millions, and the potential for COMACO to one day get to those levels as well,” Hall said.