Guidance

Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund (FRICH)

FRICH is not currently accepting applications for project funding. FRICH supports African farmers by bringing their produce to European markets and shoppers

• From: Department for International Development
• Published: 25 March 2013

This guidance was withdrawn on 24 April 2018

Fund is now closed

For DFID funding information visit the DFID Funding Finder

Overview

At present, the volumes of food product exports from Africa to Europe are low in comparison to those coming from Asia and South/Latin America. However, this trade in food to UK and other European markets can provide a significant source of income for African smallholder farmers, agribusinesses and agricultural workers in African countries. FRICH aims to improve the lives of poor Africans by connecting them to these markets in an equitable and sustainable way, increasing European imports of food from countries north of South Africa and south of the Sahara.

The FRICH challenge is aimed at the European food sector and finds innovative ways to bring more African foods to the continent. The competitive fund supports new ideas that connect African farmers with global retailers through innovative business partnerships. FRICH achieves results by removing blockages to market access and making sure that European shoppers know that their purchases make a difference to poor farmers.

On 24 October 2012, Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for International Development, announced that 15 new projects have been funded (PDF, 41.5 KB, 2 pages) as part of the 4th round of FRICH.

In total, FRICH is now supporting 25 innovative partnerships, in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principé, Ghana, Uganda, Senegal, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. These partnerships focus on a range of products including tea, coffee, fresh produce, berry fruits, juice/smoothies, flowers, tilapia fish, beef, baobab, flowers, palm oil, peanuts and vanilla. This website showcases these projects and the developmental impacts that they are working towards.

FRICH is not currently accepting applications for project funding. Information on any future funding rounds will be provided on this website.

Projects

To date, FRICH funding has supported the 25 projects listed below. Further information on each of the projects can be found by clicking on the relevant project name.

Organisation	Project
PROJECTS FROM ROUNDS 1 TO 3	.
Bettys and Taylors	Creating value addition for smallholder tea farmers in Rwanda through upgrading quality and ethical practices
Blue Skies	Fresh-cut fruit company
Café Direct	Setting the bar for a new value chain approach: reducing risks and adding more value to African smallholder farmers
Finlays	Tea diversification smallholder project in Kenya
Fullwell Mill	Exporting dried berry-fruits from Uganda
M&S Tea	Packing and blending tea at source
M&S Flowers	Development of global gap equivalence and internationally recognised leading ethical standards for Ethiopian horticulture
Ndali	Increasing purchases of Fairtrade organic vanilla from Uganda
New England Seafood	Igniting the tilapia market
Sainsburys/TWIN	Development, launch and promotion of two new African specialty coffees for distribution in UK retail market
Waitrose	Improving the prosperity and sustainability of small farmers through the adoption of Integrated Farm Management (IFM) to the LEAF Marque Standard
ROUND 4 PROJECTS	.
Barfoots of Botley	Creating a sustainable production system for high quality sweet potato growing in Senegal
Eden Project	Project Baobab
Fullwell Mill	Developing and scaling up fair trade palm oil for supply into partner retail products and demonstrating the viability of fair trade palm oil for roll-out to other brands
Greyfriars	Project Supersweet
Intersnack	Competitive African peanut value chains for pro-poor growth
IPL	New yellow passion fruit from Kenyan small farmers
Meatco	Savannah brand family packs
Nandos	Nando’s Peri Peri Ethical Sourcing Initiative
Original Beans	Growing a restorative supply chain for chocolate from Virunga, North Kivu, Eastern DRC
Sandfield Farms	West Africa farms development
Sainsburys	Delivering export quality coffee at scale in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Superflora	East African flower innovation
Taylors of Harrogate/Ethical tea partnership	Improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers through improving the quality of tea as well as the ethical standards of tea production
Taylors of Harrogate Coffee	Embedding sustainable production and business practices in coffee value chains in Rwanda and Uganda

Contact

FRICH is managed by Nathan Associates London Limited on behalf of the UK Government’s Department for International Development. For further information on FRICH please contact:

Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund
Mark Thomas, FRICH Project Director
Nathan Associates London Ltd
1st Floor, Kirkaldy House
99 Southwark Street
London SE1 0JF

Tel: +44 (0)20 7902 7788
Fax: +44 (0)20 7785 9237

E-mail: mthomas@nathaninc.com

Department for International Development
22 Whitehall
London SW1A 5EG
United Kingdom

And at:

DFID, Abercrombie House
Eaglesham Road
East Kilbride
Glasgow G75 8EA
United Kingdom

Tel: 020 7917 7000
Fax: +020 7917 0019

Public Enquiry Point: 0845 300 4100
From overseas: +44 1355 84 3132

E-mail: enquiry@dfid.gov.uk

Related links

Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund on Development Tracker

Published 25 March 2013