WISHH News Release

Kenya’s Bakeries Buy Minnesota Soy Flour as New and More Nutritious Foods Gain Popularity in Africa

Mankato, MN - Kenya and Minnesota may be 8000 miles apart on the globe, but soy flour is bringing the two together. Bakeries, large and small, in Kenya are buying shipping containers of defatted soy flour so they can offer healthier products to their customers.

To help introduce soy flour in Kenya, CHS Inc., a Fortune 500 energy, grains and foods company, headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, Minn. has worked with the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program. The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and other soybean organizations support WISHH to create sustainable solutions for the protein demands of people in developing countries through the introduction and use of U.S. soy products. WISHH has helped train bakers and meat specialists on the benefits of soy as well as how to use it in their breads and meat products.

“I was fortunate to be able to see first hand the results of the work being done by WISHH in Kenya,” says CHS Sales Manager for Soy Flour Pam Schubbe who is based in Mankato, Minn.  “They have created a lot of interest surrounding the use of soy in their diets in several different applications. WISHH has acquired the assistance of experienced individuals who are very knowledgeable in the proper use of soy. This has been very beneficial in their promotions. There is good potential in Kenya for using soy. As with anything that is new to the masses, it takes time.”

Kenya’s population, more than 31 million people, is about six times that of Minnesota’s. It is a strategic hub for trade throughout East Africa. “WISHH knows how to take the health benefits of U.S. soy to countries like Kenya where they have tremendous need and untapped demand for high-value protein,” said WISHH board member Barb Overlie, a soybean grower from Lake Crystal, Minn.

Kenyan entrepreneurs are adding the soyflour to a wide range of existing products, developing new health food products and repackaging it for retail sales in supermarkets and kiosks. WISHH Project Officer in Kenya, Mary Kanyingi, explains why the demand for soyfoods in Kenya is increasing. “This is an exciting time in marketing development for soy,” she said. “The future of soy in Kenya is promising because more people understand the benefit of soy and its applications to various foods.”

An average shipping container of defatted soy flour weighs between 15-20 tons. More important than weight are the nutritional benefits that are packed into defatted soy flour. The product is easily incorporated into foods that are already popular with Kenya’s customers. WISHH has provided this kind of information to food industry representatives as well as private voluntary organizations that work to fight malnutrition and devastating diseases, like HIV/AIDS, where nutrition is vital.

Headquartered at the American Soybean Association in St. Louis, WISHH has worked in 23 countries, ranging from Africa to Asia to Latin America, to improve diets as well as encourage growth of food industries. For more information about WISHH, please visit www.wishh.org.

CHS Inc. ( http://www.chsinc.com/ ) is a diversified energy, grains and foods company committed to providing the essential resources that enrich lives. A Fortune 500 company, CHS is owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest and from the Canadian border to Texas, along with thousands of preferred stockholders. CHS provides products and services ranging from grain marketing to food processing to meet the needs of customers around the world. It also operates petroleum refineries/pipelines and, through a broad range of working partnerships, markets and distributes Cenex(R) brand energy products and renewable fuels, along with agronomic inputs and livestock feed to rural America. CHS is listed on the NASDAQ at CHSCP.
CHS Inc.

For more information, contact:

Barb Overlie, WISHH Board of Directors 507-642-8098 donbar@myclearwave.net
Karen Edwards, World Initiative for Soy in Human Health 703-281-7600 karen@kcegroup.com
Sherry Lowe, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, 507-338-1635 sherry@mnsoybean.com