Opportunities to Reach Base-of-the-Pyramid Consumers by Partnering with Food Processors

This learning brief explores how strategic partnerships with food processors can overcome barriers to accessing nutritious diets for low-income consumers in East and Southern Africa.

While the private sector has significant potential to improve diets, a vast majority of consumers at the base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) in regions like Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia still find healthy food unaffordable. This learning brief about Opportunities to reach Base of the Pyramid Consumers by Partnering with food processors, developed under a partnership between USAID, TechnoServe, and Partners in Food Solutions, shares insights from working with over 240 processors to make nutritious food more available and affordable.

Through initiatives like BoP “bootcamps” and customized technical assistance, food processors are successfully adapting their business models. Successful interventions include the introduction of “milk ATMs” to reduce packaging costs and the development of smaller, more affordable product sizes tailored to the daily budgets of low-income households.

Download the full brief to discover data-driven recommendations on product innovation, market segmentation, and the collaborative partnerships needed to transform food systems to benefit the most vulnerable.