- Loan Open For Subscriptions Until 30 Apr 2025
Scaling innovative nutrient-rich wafer snacks to tackle childhood malnutrition across Cambodia
Danish Care Foods
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Menu
- 3,000 USD
Amount committed of 60,000 USD target. This loan will be funded as long as it raises between 40,000 USD and 80,000 USD.
Danish Care Food’s innovative ready-to-use therapeutic food (RTUF) products have had a significant increase in demand during the 1st quarter of 2025, with orders doubling to over 500,000 units for the next 6-10 months as major international NGOs seek to combat malnutrition across three new provinces in Cambodia. This loan provide the necessary capital to purchase increased input volumes and boost production. The loan is repaid when delivered orders are paid in full by the major INGO partners.
- 1 Lenders
Committed
- 6 months
Loan Period
- 10%
Interest Rate
- BACKGROUND
Loan summary
Danish Care Foods (DCF) specialises in the production of therapeutic and supplementary foods that helps to create a positive impact in nutrition for the consumer. Their fish-based ready-to-use-therapeutic food (RUTF) is utilised by the Royal Government of Cambodia and major INGOs to treat children with severe acute malnutrition.
This loan will help DCF to scale up production to meet local demand from the INGO partners that have contracts in place. It will also open doors for DCF products to international markets at the same time to ensure that they are able to meet the needs whilst working with the local Government and other organizations, to overcome the 34% wasting and 10% sever acute malnutrition among the children of Cambodia. The increase in production capacity also establishes the capabilities of DCF to other international organizations (UNICEF/WFP etc..) and the neighbouring countries with similar malnutrition issues that they are ready to scale.
Borrower's mission
After an extensive research and design phase, including in-depth consumer testing, Danish Care Foods developed a new fish-based wafer snack—Nutrix—to treat severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children. This innovation was developed in collaboration with UNICEF, the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Copenhagen University, and the Royal Government of Cambodia. Nutrix is a ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) designed for local production and large-scale distribution to address childhood malnutrition in Cambodia.
As an affordable, snack-like therapeutic food, the Cambodian government distributes Nutrix through local health facilities to treat children under five suffering from SAM in remote and low-income communities. It is estimated that between 60,000 and 90,000 children in Cambodia require specialized medical treatment annually, including access to therapeutic foods.
Nutrix is now being scaled and rolled out to additional provinces across Cambodia, with multiple INGOs placing orders, and the Royal Government of Cambodia allocating significant funding to continue Nutrix procurement and to support the development of new, market-based RUTF innovations.
The activities funded by this loan are helping to achieve the above Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the UN.
Intermediary's experience with impact enterprises
MIV is a majority Khmer and women owned Entrepreneur Support organisation (ESO) focussed on supporting impact ventures in Cambodia access demand led and adaptive financing. Our Studio specialises in supporting Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI)-focused Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), providing tailored support to help them achieve sustainable development, enhance climate resilience, and drive economic growth through innovative solutions, improved operational efficiency and policies, to help them access capital.
- IMPACT
Impacts and how they are measured
The loan will help to supply the needed RUTF/RUSF products for the projects to support 30,000 children in three new provinces. It will also enable Danish Care Foods to increase the company’s capability in preparation for the supply of larger orders in the future of up to 300,000 units that are in the order pipeline. Over 10% of young Cambodian children suffer from moderate and severe acute malnutrition. Nutrix, as an innovative therapeutic food, marks an important step towards reaching the Cambodian government’s goal to treat at least 25,000 children with severe acute malnutrition per year. This loan will positively contribute to reaching local SDG goals on nutrition and good security in Cambodia.
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