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Solar Food Drying. Revolutionizing the war on global hunger, using markets, profits, and entrepreneurial instinct. Underlying Problems: 4 Halves of the Have-Nots. Solution – implementation of: Grass-roots based food preservation solutions Utilization of appropriate technology
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Solar Food Drying Revolutionizing the war on global hunger, using markets, profits, and entrepreneurial instinct.
Underlying Problems:4 Halves of the Have-Nots • Solution – implementation of: • Grass-roots based food preservation solutions • Utilization of appropriate technology • Linkages to rural communities • Orientating towards women
Concept Summary • Solar-based food-drying is the oldest ‘processing’ technology • Benefits of drying include: • Ease of practice • Straightforward food safety solutions • Culturally familiar • Provides long-term storage with minimal packaging • Franchising and NGO partnership to allow rapid scaling of project • Solution has substantial competitive advantages: • Creates new products like tomato flour • Solves related problems like malnutrition and lack of income • Brings opportunity to rural poor (especially women)
Approach Mission: Preserve Food, Improve Nutrition, and Create Entrepreneurial Income by: • Capacity building and technology transfer including training, standards development/enforcement, and manuals • Distribution of implementing equipment and any required supplies (through profit-driven models) • Arrangement for commercial microfinance for end-user clientele when needed
Business Model • Franchise model distributing through existing local shops (preferably woman owned) • Three tiered distribution through franchisees • All tiers of distribution profit from model, sustaining the technology transfer • End user women sell to neighbors, central processor, and is able to consume themselves • Reservoir facilitates markets and ensures a buyer
Food Drying Strategies • Locally manufacture high quality food dryers • Food dryers will be sold at price under $300 and process most products in 1-2 days • Scale to many thousands of dryers in field and expand to dozens of food products • Partner with NGOs for accelerated distribution • Partner with food drying experts (e.g. SUA) for improved processes • Partner with processor for purchase of foods • Distribute needed packaging to end-users
Product • New design allows mass market among rural poor • Low sales price (under $300 USD) • High efficiency (10+ kilos tomatoes in 1-2 days) • Contract manufactured locally from locally available materials creating additional community economic development • Significant temperature differential from inside dryer to the outside environment allows for operation in a wide variety of conditions • Simple operation • Local maintenance is possible within the village – no complex parts • Culturally acceptable process, limited sensitization
Foods Able to be Dried • Potatoes • Cassava • Bananas • Sweet Potatoes • Other Staples • Tomatoes • Mangos • Pineapples • Apples • Pears • Other Fruits • Pumpkins • Carrots • Onions • Garlic • Peppers • Other Vegetables • Spinach • Rosemary • Other Herbs and Leaves • Hibiscus • Lemon Grass • Other Tea Leaves • Ground Nuts • Cocoa • Vanilla • And much more!
Key Partnership Details • MUVI: Organized and registered 5600 tomato farmers with improved seeds and basic agronomy training • Fintrac: On the ground agronomists to continue and improve agronomy training, provide finance and support for Reservoir, and incorporate additional groups to do drying in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Morogoro • Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA): Operating a major program in food drying, provide assistance with government certifications, nutrition analysis, food safety, and referrals to possible employees and partners • IOP: Ilula Orphans Project with organized tomato and onion farmers
Staffing *Cheetah holds down initial costs by outsourcing services in early stage when starting companies
Planned Milestones for Year 1 • Complete launch including an operators manual, finalized design, and contract for locally sourced manufacturing • Organize buyer finance • Pilot placement of dryers in up to 10 locations with up to 200 end-users and provide intensive start-up support in the first 3-6 months • Improve design, training, manuals, etc. based on experience and begin to scale sales with partners • By end of first year place 2000 in field • Develop assistance for marketing of dehydrated foods • By end of year 1, recruit CEO preferably with investment
Years 2-3 Plan Milestones • Expand Reservoir franchisee locations and increase distribution • Partner with NGOs to offer elsewhere • Find product processing facility to contract purchase from raw processors and provide; high quality post processing, food safety, marketing and distribution
Food as far as the eye can see… …but hunger persists. It’s time to get practical. It’s time to address the root causes.