DSM Chinese NutriRice Venture Awarded for Innovation in Nutrition

The GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition was set up by GAIN and IBLF to recognize a company displaying outstanding innovation in the development of new products and services to combat malnutrition, improve public health and promote sustainable development.

15/05/09 The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) have announced that the winner of the 2008 GAIN Business Award is DSM, that has been awarded for its innovative efforts in rice fortification, called NutriRice which is already produced by a Chinese joint venture called Wuxi NutriRice Ltd.

The runner up is Shijiazhuang Zhenji Brew Group Co., Ltd, a Chinese company, successfully marketing iron-fortified soy sauce to the vulnerable rural population in China. Third is Valid International’s approach to address acute malnutrition at scale: Community-based Therapeutic Care (CTC) combined with the production of a range of Ready to Use Foods in developing countries.

The official Award Ceremony will take place at GAIN’s Business Alliance Global Forum in Amsterdam on 27 May 2009. Over this day-long event business leaders and influential stakeholders will continue to build today’s business case for investment in malnutrition.

Established in 2008, the GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition was set up by GAIN and IBLF to recognize a company displaying outstanding innovation in the development of new products and services to combat malnutrition, improve public health and promote sustainable development. The 2008 Award had over 30 entries from all over the world. GAIN – the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition mobilizes governments and businesses to fight malnutrition by marketing affordable and safe fortified staple foods to the poorest.

According to Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of GAIN, “all entries showed the commitment of business to the global fight against malnutrition. Worldwide 3.5 million children die every year as a result of malnutrition and a further 178 million suffer impaired physical and mental development. In China, 20 percent of pre-school children suffer from anemia, 15.7 percent from iodine deficiencies and 9.3 percent from vitamin A deficiencies.1 Business is key to changing this intolerable situation.”

After a thorough screening of all the applications, the eight judges were unanimous in their selection of DSM. “The judges were particularly impressed with the innovative features of DSM's NutriRice product. In the past, rice fortification efforts have not been very successful due in part to cultural and dietary preferences.” said Will Oulton, Director, Responsible Investment, FTSE Group and Chair of the Judging Panel. “DSM's work to develop a process which has made a fortified rice product acceptable across low income communities is a significant nutritional product innovation.”

The winner, DSM, in cooperation with Bühler AG, developed a new technology that produces rice kernels that are indistinguishable from unfortified rice in looks and taste, and are still highly nutritious after washing and cooking. Bruno Kistner, from DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, Nutrition Improvement Program said "DSM is honored to receive the GAIN Business Award for Innovation and Nutrition for NutriRice. This award serves as an additional motivation for us to continue to invest in and research innovative and sustainable solutions to the huge problem of global malnutrition."

Nakamura Takashi, the new Vice-General Manager from President Kikkoman Zhenji Foods Co., Ltd thanked “GAIN for acknowledging Zhenji’s efforts; we will devote ourselves to this project as never before!”

And Dr Steve Collins, Director, Valid International said that “We believe that this recognition of Valid’s innovations and the resultant exposure of our work to a wide range of stakeholders will increase the uptake and roll out of Community-based Therapeutic Care (CTC) and stimulate business engagement in the production of Ready to Use Foods for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition globally”.

At the Award Ceremony during the GAIN’s Business Alliance Global Forum the winner will receive a specially-commissioned artwork by the Argentinean artist, Natalia Bembrive. Natalia is a young entrepreneur, chosen from among numerous candidates within The Princes Youth Business International (YBI) network. YBI supports disadvantaged young people with business ideas, providing mentoring and much needed funds.

The GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition will be presented annually. “All the applications showed remarkable ingenuity and we are encouraged by the response in our first year” said Olive Boles, Director, Global Health Partnerships at IBLF “Finding solutions to malnutrition is a somewhat niche and technical field, including many small, medium sized enterprises, so we are delighted to have had applicants drawn from such a wide range of companies and regions”.

“We hope that many more companies will enter the competition for the 2009/10 GAIN Business Award” said Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved 

Nutrition. “The private sector has the capacity to innovate and deliver products to the poorest who suffer most from malnutrition. At GAIN, we are convinced that there is an urgent need if the world wants to achieve the Millennium Development Goal to reduce poverty and hunger by half, by 2015”.

Yesterday DSM, Unilever, Pepsico, Amway and Interflour committed themselves to re-invigorating the private sectors contribution to tackling hidden hunger. More specifically, they have agreed to expand their ongoing collaboration with all stakeholders and called for the alignment of global projects and programmes towards the elimination of hidden hunger, In addition, they urged all those public bodies tasked with addressing hunger and members of civil society who care about this issue, to join with them to raise the profile of the problem of hidden hunger which is ‘not high enough on the Government agenda, the development agenda, nor on the media’s agenda.