Is Your Food Fortified?

In a previous article, HarvestPlus CEO Arun Baral highlighted the important role of the public sector in advancing biofortification. Equally essential is the private sector because we can’t
impact the food system without the food industry.

India is the second-most populous country in the world with more than 1.3 billion people, and will likely overtake China in the top spot during the next few years. About one fifth of India’s
population lives in poverty and require access to affordable, nutritious food. Fifteen percent are undernourished (194.6 million people) and 38.4 percent of children are stunted. India loses over USD 12 billion in gross domestic product due to vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

How is it that in 2020, we still are not getting the nutrition basics right? Can India lead the way with a holistic food systems approach?

India’s population, shopping habits, and consumer preferences are changing rapidly. The market share of food products sold by supermarkets, hypermarkets, and other “modern” food outlets is expected to double from 2 to 4 percent sometime this year as stores meet the evolving needs of consumers. It’s also likely that, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it on mobility and shopping practices, more Indians will seek to purchase food items online, increasing demand for packaged foods. We need an approach that meets today’s consumer but is also future-proofed for rapidly changing preferences.

HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by working with partners to develop and promote biofortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals needed for good health and providing global leadership on biofortification evidence and technology. We identify varieties of crops that are naturally higher in micronutrients and use conventional crop breeding methods to cross them with other varieties that are high-yielding and climate smart.

Enhancing the natural nutrient content of foods through biofortification is poised to be an impactful and profitable opportunity for the global food and beverage industry. For example, high-iron pearl millet could be the next “quinoa phenomenon,” and experts predict that by 2025, biofortification as a method to improve nutrition will be widespread. 1
Biofortification differs from industrial fortification in that biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than adding nutrients during crop processing. Biofortification is also a unique way to reach the poorest and the most remote vulnerable populations, for whom supplementation and conventional fortification are not usually the most viable options.

Businesses are also interested in procuring biofortified grains because they cost roughly the same as non-biofortified alternatives but offer higher consumer value through natural nutrition. The biofortified grains (wheat, millets and rice) do not handle any differently in processing and bread production; they also look, smell and often taste the same but they contain up to one third more iron, zinc or vitamin A than standard versions. Consumer research carried out by HarvestPlus repeatedly shows that consumers want naturally more nutritious foods.

Businesses and policymakers in India are already one step ahead of the global trend as they recognize that biofortification is a unique business opportunity. This was evident at a workshop organized by HarvestPlus in Delhi, where over 60 businesses leaders, technical specialists, nutritionists, policymakers and representatives from donor organizations came together to see how to expand the reach of biofortification.

While biofortified crops and foods have most often been targeted at population segments that are at greatest risk of malnutrition, they are equally pertinent to the growing segments of low- income, urban, and health-conscious consumers who seek natural sources of nutrition through their regular diet. This consumer group also creates big demand; one of the major incentives for farmers of any size to grow biofortified crops is the ability to sell surplus to millers and food manufacturers. One of the critical tasks at HarvestPlus is to link farmers to markets and demonstrate this demand to farmers.

Working with private sector seed and food businesses is a major element to the HarvestPlus program. Our team in India has longstanding partnerships with seed businesses, including Nirmal seeds  and Sood Seeds. Without these private sector collaborations, we would not be at the scale we are today. These thought-leading businesses are involved in biofortification not just for corporate social responsibility; sustainable profits soon follow.

As HarvestPlus expands its work in the food sector, we are inspired by shining examples of private sector food companies creating nutritious packaged foods for low income consumers in India. One example is Mars, Inc., one of the biggest global food businesses, which manufactures GOMO™ Dal Crunchies in India. With an affordable price point, the packaged foods deliver protein and micronutrients and are designed to help close nutritional gaps for 6- to 18-year-olds in India. Science-based, affordable and enjoyable, GOMO™ was designed in collaboration with nutrition experts in India, Europe, and the United States, and brought to market through a collaboration with the Tata Trusts, one of India’s leading philanthropic organizations.

This shows the world’s leading food businesses see not only a critical gap in the market for low- cost food, but they are also striving to make a contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals. They see that meeting these goals and building profitable businesses are not mutually exclusive.

We need to change the tone of the debate to be more collaborative and make businesses part of the solution, not the cause of the malnutrition problem. At HarvestPlus, we talk to food businesses daily, from street vendors in Punjab to big retailers in the United States. Indian business leaders are poised to be leaders in embracing biofortification as being good for business, good for their consumers, and good for their society. In fact, this is already happening with two food businesses:  Arti Roller Flour Mills in Ludhiana offers zinc wheat to consumers; and InnerBeing, a trailblazing health food business, wants to be the first to market foods made with iron pearl millet for healthy breakfasts and snack foods.

Biofortification is a groundbreaking technology that was developed to reach the world’s most vulnerable and malnourished. In order to reach these at-risk population groups quickly and
efficiently, strategies are required to integrate biofortified foods in both local and global food systems. By creating a market for biofortification, the resulting growth in demand will stimulate investment in the science and commercialization of this technology. Smallholder farmers have always been and will remain the target beneficiary of the HarvestPlus program.

(The author is Senior Advisor, business development and demand creation, at HarvestPlus. )