Last Thursday Gabriella (my intern in crime) and I visited two community probiotic yoghurt kitchens.
The community probiotic yoghurt kitchens were a project initiated by Western University based on research done by Western professor Gregor Reid; he showed that certain strains of probiotics (especially lactobilli) at specific strengths improve immunity. This is especially important for HIV patients who are immune-compromised. The yoghurt, when taken with the patients' antiretroviral medication, significantly reduces the medication's nauseous side effects.
Probiotic yoghurt also has many benefits for healthy individuals as well, including improved digestion and increased energy.
There are 10 community probiotic yoghurt kitchens in our area of Tanzania where women (yoghurt mamas) cook up this nutritious dietary supplement and sell it to locals. Saying they love it would be an understatement.
If this yoghurt was made in North America it would be labeled "made by the batch, fresh, local, organic, all natural".
Fiti yoghurt is unflavored, unsweetened, lumpy yoghurt; this is exactly what appeals to market preferences. It is proof of the importance of understanding consumer preferences!
Our Yoghurt Kitchen Project
Gabriella and I have been tasked with doing a thorough business sustainability analysis of the yoghurt kitchens. That is, which kitchens are doing well and which are not, and why.
The Sayuni kitchen (as pictured) has mediocre sales and feels they need to educate the community about their presence and the benefits of the yoghurt to improve. The Tukawamne kitchen has got yoghurt coming out of their ears! They've got customers lining up and demanding extended hours of the kitchen. Why is one business booming and the other struggling? We're hoping to spend the next three months trying to figure that out!
Issues of Complexity
At one time, all 10 Tanzanian yoghurt kitchens received donor grant money that was used to buy yoghurt for HIV+ patients in the kitchen community (beneficiaries). This yoghurt improved the health and quality of life for many HIV+ community members.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end.. and so did the donor money. The beneficiaries were angry and some died as a result of lack of yoghurt to sustain their nutritional health. They voiced their anger to the yoghurt mamas with violence. As a result, the sense of community inside the kitchens decreased dramatically.
Gabriella and I have been tasked with assessing the continued effects of the loss of donor funds on yoghurt business.
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