About the GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition

GAIN, in association with the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), has created the GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition. The GAIN Business Award recognises and rewards companies engaging in innovations designed to fight malnutrition, improve public health and promote sustainable development. Malnutrition affects more than a third of the world’s population. Not only is it an urgent global health issue, it is also an impediment to productivity, economic growth and poverty reduction. Responsibility for addressing global health issues lies with governments, but the private sector – especially companies operating in developing countries - can be an important partner and play a constructive role in providing solutions.  

The GAIN Business Award gives recognition and inspiration to companies from any business sector engaged in promoting solutions to malnutrition across a wide range of activities in the marketplace, workplace and community, as well as in the policy domain. The Award is designed to stimulate innovation that delivers improved nutrition for the poor and recognises the value of partnerships. Finally, the Award aims to bring malnutrition and other health issues to the attention of the international media and to promote sustainable business practices.  

Selection

GAIN invites companies of any type, size, industry sector or regional focus to submit an entry to this Award. Entries must demonstrate corporate leadership and best practice. Eight companies have been shortlisted for GAIN’s Business Award 2008: Bio Organics Nutrient Systems (Nigeria), DSM Nutritional Products (Switzerland), NutriGrain (South Africa), Matrel Foods (Peru), Shijiazhuang Zhenji Brew Group Co., Ltd (China), Sodexo (France), Valid International (UK), and Zonke Foods (South Africa). GAIN received over 30 international entries. “All the applications showed remarkable ingenuity and we are encouraged by the response in our first year,” says Olive Boles, Director, Global Health Partnerships at IBLF. “Finding solutions to malnutrition is a somewhat niche and technical field, including many small and medium sized enterprises, so we are delighted to have finalists drawn from such a wide range of companies and regions,” she adds. A distinguished panel with representatives from corporations, universities, foundations and international and multilateral organizations assessed the eight finalists.

Prize

The winner of the GAIN Business Award was announced on 11 May 2009 at the Micronutrient Forum [1] in Beijing, China. DSM [2] received the award for its innovative efforts in rice fortification. During the Award Ceremony on 27 May 2009 in Amsterdam, DSM showed a video [3] about NutriRice and its benefits on children in China. The winner received a specially-commissioned artwork by the Argentinean artist, Natalia Bembrive at the GAIN Global Forum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Natalia is a young entrepreneur, chosen from among numerous candidates within The Princes Youth Business International (YBI) network. YBI supports disadvantaged young people with business ideas, providing mentoring and much needed funds.