Using Our Food Expertise to Help Local Entrepreneurs in West Africa
At Hershey, we believe the best way to make an impact in the communities we touch is by leveraging what we do best – our expertise in food processing and production. That’s why we launched our shared global social purpose, Nourishing Minds, to provide children with the basic nutrition they need to learn and grow.
One of the best examples of how we are applying our expertise to make a difference is our work in West Africa with Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) and Root Capital. We joined forces to help local food processors and millers in Ghana get the information and financial resources needed to grow and contribute to economic development, nutrition, and food security. This year, 19 Hershey employees shared their expertise - from engineering, to R&D, to quality management, to help four small and growing local food processors and millers.
One of these entrepreneurs is Charlotte from Royal Danemac, a soybean oil producer. Our team is helping her determine an approach for refining pressed soybean oil into an edible oil for the retail market. We developed initial product specifications and guidelines and are working with her on quality recommendations to ensure she gets the right government certifications. Our engineering team is also assessing if the refining equipment is safe to run given its current condition.
To learn more about Charlotte and the work that employees from Hershey and other food companies are doing to assist entrepreneurs in West Africa, check out this great article in Forbes from Willy Foote of Root Capital.
