To strengthen competencies and technical capacities of RUF/LNS producers (SMEs and NGOs) members of the PlumpyField network, based in programmatic countries, to timely manufacture high quality nutritious products that can be used prevent and treat wasting and stunting, and increase capacity production.

Groupe Nutriset will make available the support needed by the Plumpyfield® partners, ready-to-use food (RUF) producers, according to their needs. This support will be provided on a regular basis, focusing on three main areas: industrial development, quality assurance and research and development.

Industrial development: Maintaining and upgrading plants, equipment, tools, and ways of working to allow the best processes to produce RUFs and lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNSs). The main actions will be:

• Definition of infrastructure specifications

• Co-construction of factory layouts

• Technical study of equipment needs

• Supply of suitable equipment

• Work monitoring (project management)

• Preventive and corrective maintenance

• Supply of maintenance parts

• Monitoring of the annual plan

Quality assurance: To guarantee the performance and quality of the products manufactured, partners benefit from Nutriset’s continuous improvement actions:

• Definition of product characteristics (nutritional, physicochemical, sensory)

• Identification of the best raw materials

• Improvement of yields, nutritional quality, economic outlets (aflasafe)

• Monitoring of means of production (PM specifications, documentary system, etc.)

• Food safety support (HACCP plan, control plans, etc.)

• Support for customer communication

• Capitalisation of nutritional data

Research & Development: To guarantee the performance and quality of the products manufactured and best respond to the local needs, partners benefit from Nutriset’s research and product development:

• Knowledge dissemination of outcomes from academic partnerships in nutrition and food sciences

• Definition of nutritional specifications in addition to clients’ requirements

• Training and support in nutrition and field programmes

• Evaluation of opportunity for new raw materials

• Continuous improvement of existing products according to local industrial constraints, clients’ specifications and/or raw material costs

• New product development and industrial scale-up

• Sensory and shelf-life studies

To achieve and transfer this know-how to Plumpyfield partners, trainings on-site and in France will be planned on areas of expertise and topics such as equipment maintenance, process management, quality assurance, quality control, analysis methods (microbio, chemistry), storage and logistics, purchasing and planning, product nutrition, factory operational excellence and market analysis. This support is provided by Nutriset staff and is planned and monitored partner per partner, according to their context, maturity and needs.

In addition to trainings provided by Nutriset, we organise annual meetings to share best practices and discuss our common vision and needs for future developments. Partners based in programmatic countries where the needs are present also contribute and bring their knowledge and expertise.