NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, May 23, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS (May 22, 2013) – Partners in Food Solutions (PFS), a nonprofit organization founded by General Mills, is adding a fourth partner, Switzerland-based Bühler, to its consortium of world-class food companies working together to link the technical and business expertise of employee volunteers to small and growing food processors and millers in the developing world. Bühler joins Minneapolis-based General Mills and Cargill, and Royal DSM of the Netherlands as a PFS corporate partner. PFS also collaborates closely withTechnoServe and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). TechnoServe offers in-depth country knowledge that helps make for successful on-the-ground program implementation and USAID helps shape and guide PFS by sharing strengths, experiences, methodologies and resources through a public-private partnership formed in 2010.

PFS is pioneering a volunteer movement that brings together corporate knowledge, expertise and resources to improve food security and nutrition to enrich lives around the world, beginning in Africa. This enterprising model leverages vast amounts of expertise that resides in global food companies to remotely deliver the knowledge and expertise that is most needed to the small and growing businesses (SGB) in the food sector. Rather than sending technical staff to Africa, PFS, working with partners USAID and TechnoServe, created a sustainable knowledge transfer system that enables volunteer experts from General Mills, Cargill, DSM and now Bühler to remotely collaborate with African food processors and millers from their offices thousands of miles away. Bühler’s unique and in-depth knowledge of equipment, engineering and process management will enable PFS to help SGBs meet their challenges with sustainable solutions.