If you are still wondering whether you should join the upcoming Workforce Nutrition Alliance (WNA) Masterclass (the next one kicks off in September 2024. – exact dates TBD), continue reading. We’ve rounded up some of the highlights from participants in our two 2023 cohorts and their experiences with the programme:
Dr. Adeline Pretorius from the University of Pretoria, South Africa
Pretorius joined the WNA Masterclass in an academic capacity to find inspiration to develop a nutrition program for female farmworkers, addressing the prevalent overnutrition and lack of dietary diversity. She said the WNA scorecard was especially helpful in prioritising the need to address “Healthy food at work” and “Nutrition education”. She also described other worksheets covered in the programme, such as the “Ambassador mapping tool” and “Getting from goals to ideas” tools as well designed, practical, and said it helped to formulate achievable actions. Read more.
Romuald N’takpe, Sustainable Rubber Procurement Officer at Olam Agri Rubber, Côte d’Ivoire
Olam Agri Rubber joined the WNA Masterclass as part of their commitment to improve working conditions for employees. Following the Masterclass, they created an innovative solution for lactation space by modifying a container and facilitating the transportation of babies to the factory for breastfeeding. The company also addresses nutritional habits by educating employees on the benefits of vegetables and other healthy foods and plans to continue enhancing its workforce nutrition program. N’takpe found the Masterclass programme valuable for establishing their programme. “The curriculum is relevant, adaptable to each organisation’s realities, and explores strong tools to elaborate your planning, reflect on your budget, monitor and oversee activities, and track impact. The one-on-one coaching sessions also assisted to understand our organizational realities and propose what can work well.” Read more.
Linda Drummond, consulting dietitian at the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA)
As representative of 9,000 companies in the fast-moving consumer goods sector in South Africa, the CGCSA acknowledged the significance of their platform, and in 2015 launched a voluntary programme called the Healthy Food Options Industry Initiatives (HFOIIs) which aimed to make healthier food options available and accessible to consumers in South Africa. On surveying, they however found that many companies were already involved in activities related to employee wellbeing. This inspired the CGCSA to include workforce nutrition commitments into the new HFOIIs commitment period, which was launched in 2023 and will run until 2027. For support in setting up a successful workforce nutrition programme, the CGCSA signed up for the WNA Masterclass programme. According to Drummond, the sessions were instrumental in assisting the CGCSA to start the process of developing a workforce nutrition programme. “The Masterclass included several useful resources that the team is excited to use once the plan for the organisation has been fully developed and approved.” Read more.
Rowland Ogungbemi, human resources manager at Olam Agri Kaduna Feed Mill Plant, Nigeria
Ogungbemi joined the Workforce Nutrition Masterclass to understand healthy dietary choices and find ways to bring them to the workplace. “We believe a healthy employee is a productive employee.” The company has made progress in their employee health programme by reviewing the canteen menu to include healthier food and introducing ‘Fruity Wednesdays’ to encourage fruit intake. They focus on creating awareness around good nutrition and have redesigned their canteen to encourage employees to enjoy healthier meals. With these measures, they aim to enhance productivity and create a unique value proposition for employees. According to Ogungbemi, the Masterclass programme provides an opportunity for organizations to improve employee productivity through healthy dieting and engagement. Read more.
Trifilia Indriastiwi, Safety and Health Manager at PT OMRON Manufacturing of Indonesia (OMI)
OMI has created an exemplary model to support its female workforce through a comprehensive breastfeeding campaign. With a majority female workforce, OMI has facilities such as a lactation room and policies like break time for nursing mothers. They also offer on-site daycare services for children under two, allowing mothers to breastfeed during work hours. Indriastiwi says she joined the WNA Masterclass to increase her capacity to strengthen their breastfeeding initiatives while also increasing her knowledge to equip her to raise employee awareness of a healthy diet since it is linked to the nutritional status of breastfeeding mothers. Read more.
Wilhemina Borketey, Human Resources Manager at Olam Agri Ghana Limited
Olam Agri Ghana has made great strides in their workforce nutrition programme. Their efforts include having formed a Workforce Nutrition Champions group, launching awareness campaigns, revising their canteen menu, providing daily free meals, refurbishing their staff canteen, and establishing lactation rooms for new mothers. These efforts have improved employee health and productivity and have been supported by comprehensive feedback and health education programs. Borkertey says the sharing of ideas and experiences from other countries, and one-on-one coaching sessions, among other things, greatly supported their existing plans and added significant value to their initiatives. “We wanted to leverage key learnings to support our organization’s agenda of ensuring that 100% of our total workforce gains access to nutrition programs by 2030.” Read more.
Tamara Sanchez, Global Safety and Wellness Supervisor at Grupo Bimbo, Mexico
Grupo Bimbo’s philosophy to build a sustainable, productive, and humane company has guided the development of its global wellness strategy that incorporates nutrition, physical activity, occupational health, and work-life balance. The company pursues various activities to this end, including a comprehensive nutrition education programme and certification to ensure canteens globally offer healthy food options, among others. Sanchez says the WNA Masterclass resources provided invaluable tools and insights that played a pivotal role in refining and strengthening Grupo Bimbo’s existing initiatives. Read more.
Bertha Fokas, Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Aviv Tanzania (ofi), Tanzania
Aviv’s engagement with the Workforce Nutrition Alliance and participation in the Masterclass was a strategic move to support the company with its goals of thriving workers and communities. Their focus on health came from recognising that employees spend the majority of their time at work, along with the realization that many employees and community members needed support with nutrition education, and to improve their nutritional health status “The Masterclass tools have offered direction in resource allocation, prioritization of implementation steps, collection of employee feedback, and data gathering to enhance workplace nutrition programs.” Read more.
Join the next Workforce Nutrition Masterclass
The Workforce Nutrition Masterclass is a collaborative initiative of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF). It is designed to support organisations with the planning, development and implementation of workforce nutrition programmes. The curriculum covers Breastfeeding at Work, Healthy food at Work, Nutrition Education and Nutrition-focused Health Checks, in addition to guiding participants in the practical application of such initiatives. During the Masterclass, participants receive various tools and resources to enhance the live virtual training sessions, delivered over 12 weeks. The next one kicks off in September 2024. Enquire or book your spot today.