Arla Foods Ingredients designs nutritious snack from whey and papaya to fight Ethiopian malnutrition

15 Apr 2021 --- Arla Foods Ingredients is partnering with public and private sectors in Denmark and Ethiopia to transform papaya waste and dairy ingredients into nutritious, affordable snacks.

“We’re still in the early stages, but we’ve already developed the first prototype for a dried fruit protein bar based on papaya pulp, milk and whey-based ingredients,” Charlotte Sørensen, business development manager at Arla Foods Ingredients, tells NutritionInsight.

“The next step is to adapt it based on feedback from local populations and to ensure local producers have the necessary technology to produce it.”

Addressing malnutrition
The new four-year project is led by the Switzerland-based Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a foundation launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle malnutrition. 

“Farmers and food processors are very interested in this initiative to produce high quality, affordable products. We will support them with nutritional and value chain expertise and with creating consumer demand,” says Meseret Worku, GAIN project leader in Ethiopia.

“Through this, we can contribute to the Ethiopian government’s ambition to reduce malnutrition-related stunting to zero by 2030.” 

The new project is set to build a fruit processing value chain that will create jobs and cut post-harvest papaya loss in Ethiopia, in addition to reducing malnutrition. 

Every year, around 30 percent of Ethiopia’s papaya harvest is lost due to spoilage. Reducing post-harvest loss
As the fourth most popular fruit crop in Ethiopia, papayas are a source of income for more than 890,000 farmers. They are also highly nutritious, being particularly rich in vitamins A, B and C. However, every year, around 30 percent of the harvest is lost due to spoilage.

Solar drying is a low-cost and sustainable opportunity to reduce post-harvest loss and to make more of the nutritious fruit available for processing into affordable foods. Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia is investigating how to ensure the best nutrient retention during the drying process.

Promoting Ethiopia’s F&B industry
Better use of the papaya harvest will secure an improved income for farmers. In addition, the partnership project will develop a toolkit for training food processing workers and facilitate the creation of new jobs in Ethiopia’s food industry.

In its contribution to the project, Arla Foods Ingredients has provided free technical and nutritional expertise, food processing know-how and whey protein ingredients for product development. 

“We’ve also made a cash donation to the project. We hope to continue to support and work with local Ethiopian fruit bar manufacturers in the future,” says Sørensen.

Other local partners in the project include three Ethiopian food producers – Theday Agro Industry, Africa Juice Tibila and Raya Horti Farm – and the agricultural engineering enterprise Selam TRIAE. 

The Confederation of Danish Industry DI is working with Ethiopian business associations to establish the enabling environment for the business model.

Papayas are highly nutritious, being particularly rich in vitamins A, B and C.The project is also supported by funding from the Danida Market Development Partnerships program.

“It’s a co-creation approach to innovation that draws on the expertise and experience of many partners. In four years’ time, we aim to have the entire value chain in place for a nutritious, affordable and commercially viable dried fruit snack that makes the best use of an abundant local crop,” says Sørensen.

As the project develops further, whey protein in the bars could be supplied by Arla Foods Ingredients or by other manufacturers, including local ones, she notes. 

Innovation co-creation
As a founding member of the GAIN Nordic Partnership, which was set up in 2014, Arla Foods Ingredients has supported public, public-private and civil society partnerships for the benefit of at-risk population groups. 

“Our membership has helped us gain knowledge about building sustainable supply chains for nutritious and safe foods in Ethiopia and other countries with high rates of malnutrition,” says Sørensen.

Arla Foods Ingredients’ projects in other countries include an initiative in Zambia to develop a nutritious UHT drink from local milk.

“It’s fortified with key vitamins and minerals missing from the diets of many local people. We’ve also helped a Nigerian company fortify its yogurt product with essential nutrients, including vitamin A, zinc, B12 and iron, to improve the nutritional value of the product,” explains Sørensen.

The company has also been able to share best practices for food safety and production and help identify the specific nutritional needs of local communities. 

Boosting nutrition
Whey protein is a key ingredient in Nutritional Growth Solutions’ Healthy Height protein shake, which it recently announced is expanding to the Asian market to support growth in children’s height.

Last December, global governments and health advocates committed over US$3 billion to address the unrelenting global hunger and nutrition crisis worsened by COVID-19. 

Edited by Missy Green