How can young people establish businesses which focus on producing healthy, nutritional snacks utilising more holistically sustainable business models? What is the future for the ‘snacks’ industry – especially in our world climate, with challenges such as increasing energy costs?
SIANI, together with WWF Sweden Youth and the Government of Sweden, host a side event at the World Food Forum flagship event 2022 on healthy snacks for a healthy planet.
Background
Snacks are increasingly replacing standard, bigger meals and there is a growing demand for ‘functional snacks’ which provide nutritional value. In fact, in Mondelez’ State of Snacking study from 2021, they found that overall 62% of consumers replaced a meal with a snack per day – and that these figures were even higher among Gen Z consumers (75%) and millennial consumers (69%). More so, the snacking ‘phenomena’ is not only limited to a developed country context (for example, the analytics firm Aranca, report that the healthy snack market is on the rise in emerging economies). It is thus crucial, that companies present within, and entering, the healthy snacks market play a role in making our food systems sustainable in a holistic sense and that youth understand the way snacks are shaping their diets.
This event provides the audience with insights into the development of businesses with sustainable business models producing healthy snacks in various socioeconomic contexts – which are becoming a larger part of our diets – and how youth can be involved in establishing such endeavours.
The event seeks to increase the understanding for how one can enter this growing market in a sustainable manner, especially as a young person situated in different parts of the world – as well as perspectives on what the future for snacking and the snacks industry looks like. It also hopes to inspire youth to further learn more about this industry as well as take action to shape it within different socioeconomic and geographic contexts.
To join the event, register to World Food Forum.
Programme and speakers
Welcoming remark
Pernilla Ivarsson, Minister Counsellor, Deputy Permanent Representative to FAO, from The Government of Sweden
Presentations
Affiong Williams, founder and CEO of Reel Fruit, Nigeria
Dorah Momanyi, Nutritious Agriculture Network
Anna Hovhannisyan, founder Chir’s House
Professor Robert Musundire, Directorate of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Chinhoyi University of Technology
Moderators
Alice Tunfjord, Associate, SIANI
Rojda Temur, WWF Sweden Youth
Biographies
- Affiong Williams, Founder and CEO of ReelFruits
Affiong is a Nigerian entrepreneur from Cross River State. She is the founder and CEO of Reel Fruit, a Nigerian company that processes and distributes locally grown fruit.
- Dorah Momanyi, founder Nutritious Agriculture Network, Kenya
Dorah is the founder of the Nutritious Agriculture Network in Kenya. In her work, she re-establishes the use of indigenous grains, such as sorghum, amaranth and millet, by making plant-based snacks.
- Anna Hovhannisyan, founder Chir’s House
Anna is the founder of a start-up agribusiness, producing dried fruits in the village in Armenia where she was born. In her farm, she grows organic strawberries under greenhouse conditions which she harvests and dries for tea production.
- Professor Robert Musundire, Directorate of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Chinhoyi University of Technology
Robert does research in Agricultural Science and Entomology, with interests in ecological management of invasive insect pests in natural and ago-ecosystems. One of his current projects is ”Edible Insects for food security and health in Southern Africa: from practice to evidence and policy implications” in Zimbabwe.