The Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund

FRICH is a fund launched by the UK Government’s Department For International Development to challenge the private sector to find ways of getting more food from Africa into UK supermarkets and other retail outlets.

Giving African farmers greater access for their food exports helps reduce poverty and increase rural incomes, so the fund is designed to support projects that bring african farmers and their workers, including poor smallholders into the food supply chain.

While UK supermarkets have successfully developed African horticulture to meet year-round demand for fresh fruit and vegetables, most produce is sourced from a few countries only and farmers find it hard to meet buyers’ exacting standards. Further obstacles to these farmers can arise from concerns over food miles, environmental conservation, labour standards and food safety. FRICH seeks to find new ways to overcome these constraints 

FRICH is designed as a risk-sharing mechanism. Its funding will help business innovations – ideas that might otherwise be too risky to attract commercial operators – to get off the ground. Innovations may vary widely, from introducing new technologies along the supply chain, creating links with suppliers in new countries, developing new crops or products, opening up new distribution channels or devising creative marketing strategies that target UK consumers.

Successful bidders will need to propose projects with the potential to improve market access for African products. They are also encouraged to find approaches that raise awareness among UK consumers and increase their demand for African food products. The overall goal is to discover new approaches that can be scaled up, achieving sustained increases in trade.

What are the criteria for projects?

Project types:

The funding targets public-private partnerships in the food retail sector that are developing new profitable business models that will increase demand for food sustainably produced by African farmers and agribusiness. FRICH supports projects and not individual companies or organisations. Moreover, a UK retailer or retail brand must be involved. While the business models being tested need not be proven, they should have the potential to be commercially viable.

Geographical spread:

The funding is intended to reach some of the poorest countries north of South Africa and south of the Sahara. The first bidding round attracted several projects involving products from Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and Malawi. FRICH is now keen to support projects in other countries, including non-Anglophone nations.

Product range:

All food products are eligible (including fish and meat) but projects must be focused on UK import of a food product or products from Africa. While proposals have so far included coffee and tea, cashew, pineapple, cocoa, dried fruit, macadamia, juice and honey FRICH is seeking ideas that promote trade in other products, too. FRICH is interested in developing competitive quality products, not only those that rely on the ‘Fairtrade’ market.

Impact:

Projects should be innovative and commercial, involving new products, services, marketing approaches, business models or supply chain systems. They should deliver sizeable benefits to a significant number of people and have the potential for impact beyond the project through replication or by changing the way the supply chain functions. They should also address environmental concerns.