Final Completion Report for COMPETE Grant

The company's RUTF products are essential for the rehabilitation of severely malnourished individuals, particularly in Africa, where the demand for RUTF exceeds regional supply. Insta Products began manufacturing RUTF in November 2009 under a license agreement with Valid Nutrition. The company's 92-gram sachets of shelf-stable RUTF are not unique, but having their manufacturing facility located in Kenya, a developing country neighboring famine-prone regions, is a significant advantage. The COMPETE program learned of Insta Products in July 2009 and invited the company to submit an application for grant funding, which was awarded to support the expansion of Insta's RUTF business. The grant goals, objectives, and outcomes of the COMPETE project were designed to increase Insta's installed manufacturing capacity, employment, and competitiveness in the RUTF market. The project aimed to increase the factory's capacity from 1,500 metric tons per year to 4,500 metric tons per year within three months of grant disbursement. Despite initial delays in the installation of new packaging machines, the factory capacity was increased to 4,500 metric tons per year as targeted. The expansion of Insta's RUTF business has led to significant increases in employment, with the factory now employing 28 Kenyans working around the clock to fulfill orders. The company has also reduced lead times for the supply of RUTF from 12 weeks to four weeks, facilitating the efforts of humanitarian relief organizations. Insta's pricing for RUTF is highly competitive, with the company selling the product at US$ 4,202 to UNICEF and US$ 4,347 to other NGOs, significantly lower than the price of product imported from Europe. Insta Products has become a regional supplier of RUTF, marketing its products to humanitarian relief organizations based in Nairobi and providing famine relief to a wider East Africa. The company's success has been recognized as an ideal business model for increasing food security in East Africa, with a sustainable market-driven approach that incentivizes the agricultural products value chain, encourages local production, enhances industry capacity, and provides quick access to nutrition products. The COMPETE project has also supported Insta's working capital needs, with the company drawing down on a Root Capital revolving loan facility of US $300,000 and an Acumen Fund facility of US $350,000. These infusions of short-term working capital have enabled Insta to quote 2-4 weeks lead times, further reducing the time it takes to supply RUTF to humanitarian relief organizations.