FRICH Funding Now Open For Bids

Tuesday 13 December 2011

The Department for International Development (DFID) has announced that the Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund (FRICH) is now accepting bids from the UK and European private food sector for innovative projects that could deliver an increase in Africa to Europe food trade. Grants requested from FRICH must be between £150,000 and £1 million, with applicants contributing a minimum of 50% of the total project cost. Initial bids must be submitted by 20^th February 2012. 

FRICH has been awarding grants since 2008 for a diverse range of innovative projects including those involving tea, coffee, cocoa, spices and dried fruit, as well as fresh produce and fish, in African countries that are north of South Africa and south of the Sahara. 

FRICH Project Director Mark Thomas explains the benefits of FRICH to all parties: “The main objective of FRICH (which is a competitive Challenge Fund*) is to improve market access for African food by working with food businesses to develop successful new approaches that can be scaled up. The funding therefore offers excellent opportunities for European food companies to test new business models with a shared risk, whilst benefiting some of the poorest regions of Africa in a very real and tangible way.” 

“Whilst the bids are competitive we provide plenty of guidance and support for applicants and the initial bids are submitted in the form of Project Concept Notes, which should only be a maximum of five to six pages.” 

Those interested in applying for the scheme can visit www.frich.co.uk. 

For further information, case studies of previous FRICH projects and photography contact: 

Jennifer John or David Gough at Ceres

T: 0118 9475956 / 07860 555233 / 07919 217443

Email: jennifer.john@ceres-pr.co.uk or david.gough@ceres-pr.co.uk  

Notes to Editors  

1. FRICH is a competitive challenge fund* that is funded by DFID that challenges the private sector to increase Africa to Europe food trade. FRICH supports innovative projects that improve market access for African products and aims to raise awareness among European consumers and expand consumer demand - in the face of concerns over food miles, environmental conservation, labour standards and food safety. FRICH has been awarding grants since 2008, with 3 bidding rounds already completed. The aim of the funding is to reach and benefit the poorest countries of Africa - excluding South Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya or Egypt. All food products are eligible i.e. meat, fish and edible oils, fruit and vegetables and also flowers but not timber, cosmetics or fibres for textile and clothing 
2. Challenge Funds enable the public sector to support innovation by sharing risk in testing new business models. They involve a competitive process through which grants are made to businesses in response to proposals to overcome a particular challenge. They enable new public-private partnerships to help combat poverty and utilise the strengths of the private sector, namely creativity, innovation, speed of response and delivery capability. 
3. Closing date for initial bids in the form of Project Concept Notes is 20^th February 2012. Bids that are selected to progress to the next stage applicants will be notified within 2 weeks with successful applicants notified by June 2012 and FRICH funded activities must be completed within 15 months of project start.

To be eligible for a FRICH grant: 

• Bids must be led by a private sector enterprise that is either a retailer or a retail brand with an established share of the UK market or other European market or is working with such an enterprise in partnership to implement the project.
• The organizations in the bid must demonstrate their capacity and financial wherewithal and must also be able to contribute a minimum of 50% of project costs to share in the risks involved in the project.
• Grant funding requested must be for a project to test an innovative concept or business model, or to turn a successful pilot into a larger scale project – not a general request for finance for a business or for an organization..
• Bids must demonstrate potential for commercial sustainability;
• Bids must demonstrate how poor African farmers, farmworkers and/or small scale entrepreneurs are likely to improve their livelihoods on a sustainable basis as a result of the success of the project.

The following additional criteria, if met, will strengthen any proposal, but meeting all of them is not a requirement. These selection criteria are used to help assess the overall strength of a project. 

Selection criteria: 

Related to expected project results:

• Innovativeness of the project concept (new: products, services, marketing, business models, supply chains, geographical areas)
• Clarity of route to market and likely security of position in the market.
• Demonstration of avoidance of any market distortions / dependence
• Potential for wider replication/ systemic change
• Scale of benefits to poor people in Africa
• Social impacts, including benefits for women and men
• Environmental impacts
• Costs / benefit ratio for the project  

Related to project delivery:

• Demonstration of capacity  of the bidders to implement the project
• Clarity of presentation of the technical aspects of the project
• Strength of financial analysis with a good prospect for sustainable commercial returns
• Approach to communication / awareness raising with buying public