Taking the Ramp
Calling on Ardent Mills in Denver was an exercise in exploring long held curiosities. How does a company with only 2500 employees, a turnover of about $5bn, with flour mill plants in over 32 locations across North America, no global presence, still provide the highest percentage of volunteers of any of the seven corporate partners we have? What lies behind this outsize participation?
Well, a visit to the RiNo mill, specializing in wheat flour and milling ancient grains (spelt wheat, Khorasan, buckwheat, Purina, chickpeas, pearled barley, sustagrain, ) - was a treat of note. Our hosts, plant manager and seasoned miller, Brent Johnson, still with a twinkle in his eye when describing the process of figuring out how to get the right consistency of flour from such a range of grains. His colleagues Brett and James (Quality Manager and Head Miller) were delighted to take us through their plant which churns out over 20 different milled flour products (both organic and conventional), from conventional wheat and the ancient grains. Their fascination with their work and their willingness to share the knowledge with others - is a key driver that makes volunteering a viable value proposition! That attitude abounds at Ardent.
Jimmy, Brian and I had the singular honor and pleasure to spend the afternoon with Dan Dye, in what would become his last couple of days at Ardent mills before he retires. So, he gave us a last tour of the Ardent Mills headquarters in downtown Denver. Dan knew everyone he met in the hallways, had an anecdote to share with each person, and was a clearly respected and loved leader. I learnt that Dan writes a thank you note to each person that volunteers at Ardent. Leadership support and acknowledgment was the other secret source at Ardent. Meeting the senior management was quite fascinating, it was as if Dan’s attitude had unleashed a companywide desire to find ways to volunteer. Another secret sauce - getting executives to commit and find a good reason to support volunteering.
So it was no surprise that when we held our townhall and fireside chat with Dan in front of their Supply Chain team (who were all in town for their volunteer week) - that the event went well, and volunteer Andrew Wilcox’s testimonial was well received.
We had the pleasure of meeting up with Dave Cummings (he who claims he is a better musician than an engineer!) - what a treat. Dave has, since the 1970s been on a pursuit to transfer knowledge to the African food processing sector. He seems as excited today about that work as he probably was on his first trip to Tanzania in 1977. Another PFS secret sauce, folk participate in PFS to fulfil their deeply held sense of purpose and mission. Meeting Dave, spending time with Dan, visiting the Ardent RiNo mill, like Staci would say, really filled my cup!
Next stop was Orrville, Ohio. Unfortunately, it meant flying through Cleveland Airport, not a pleasant experience in general. However, our friends at J.M. Smucker Co made up for the below par experiences in Cleveland.
Smucker’s is a listed family business, which from its origins of making apple butter has become a leading US consumer food, pet food and coffee business. The unique thing about Smucker’s is how their branding and advertising team, Smucker Seed is at the heart of most of branding and packaging projects at PFS. Most corporates nowadays outsource such capability, but the incredible team and facilities Smucker’s has assembled means that our clients are benefiting from the best-in-class CPG branding and marketing service. What a privilege! No surprise that our leading volunteer, Diane won the client visit trip this year!
We were hosted by our board member Chris Todaro, and his alternate Dan Dietz, and Director of Sustainability Rebecca Orr. These guys are extremely invested in PFS and really get what we are trying to do and how that aligns with their business goals. But the cherry on top is that from the volunteering individuals to their immediate managers, to the top of the business, John Brase (the COO who also addressed the Volunteer Celebration) and Mark Smucker - the message is consistent. The partnership with PFS aligns with Smucker’s stated mission of “Thriving Together “. I picked up some interesting fashion sense from Mark, about not only wearing the brand, but being the brand!
If you are wondering why I was unimpressed with Cleveland Airport - well, I have been on 100s of flights, and don’t readily miss flights. I have now missed 4 flights ever, Cleveland included. One was due to a booking error, where my abbreviated name was used and I was taken off the flight and my travel agent was not reachable; second was a freak rain storm that made driving to the airport impossible, third one was due to an early morning traffic jam (fuel queues) in Harare, and then Cleveland where I spent almost 2 hours in the TSA line - thanks to disinterested and largely unhelpful agents . I digress!
So, as I approach day 100, it’s time to reflect. What have I heard from the market, our corporate partners, from our clients, our volunteers, our donors, our founders, and you my colleagues?
I shared with the senior leadership team some of my early reflections about the themes we are hearing from the market. PFS will need to be purposeful in engaging with topics around nutrition, healthy and safe foods, African demographics will define the opportunities for our clients, MSMEs will be the driver of food systems transformation in Africa, climate change will define and shape the food system for the next few decades, energy and technology will be major sub themes.
From you my colleagues, the 1:1 discussions were helpful in filling information and knowledge gaps that I had, but also communicating why this work is important to you, as individuals.
Our clients were unanimous in their appreciation of the partnership with PFS, while expecting more services, solutions and connections with the wider network of entrepreneurs across the continent.
One of my precious moments has been meeting and connecting with the apprentices we have across our portfolio of clients. It was amazing to see the talent and the potential. Their message was clear, given the opportunity, they will thrive!
Finally, our ecosystem partners gave a signal that we are a shy organization, not given to sharing our capabilities and impact. They are ready to partner and co-create new approaches with us.
So, all the above and more, tell us that as we prepare to ‘take the ramp’, and refresh our strategy, we would be served well by ensuring we;
Build a solid fact base from within and outside of our organization to ensure we are all aligned about where we are and what insights and foresights are available to us.
Create and consider several alternative vision boards for the next iteration of PFS- together, everyone participating.
Agree on a commonly selected path and commit to execute it together, each one contributing where they can.
This process starts now, and I will soon be sharing the details of the activities we will be embarking on with the support from Bain and participation from all of you.
Let’s take this ramp, informed, prepared and with clear direction!
Mandla
Pretoria
07 October, 2024