From Cheese to Indigenous Seeds: What We Took Away from the Africa Food Show.

A food show can be many things. For some, it is about discovering new products. For others, it is about finding new suppliers, meeting people in the industry or simply seeing what is happening beyond your own farm or factory.

For us, the Africa Food Show became a little bit of all of these things.

We attended as a team of four from different parts of Brown’s, our farm manager, one of our cheese production supervisors, a member of our sales team and myself, as the nutritionist. We each went in with a different perspective, and I think that is what made the experience so interesting. We were not all looking for the same thing.

Some of us were looking at cheese production and new technologies. Others were interested in farming, nutrition, ingredients and new products. And, of course, our sales team was looking at what is happening in the market and what people are creating.

But somewhere between the cheese, seeds, drinks and conversations, we all came away with something new.

Looking at Cheese Differently

Our team had the opportunity to meet their CEO, sample their products and have a conversation around cheese processing and product development. For our production team, particularly the junior members who joined us, it was a valuable opportunity to see how other cheese producers work and to be exposed to possibilities beyond the products we currently make.

One of the conversations was around whey, a natural by-product of cheese production. The team learnt about how whey can be further processed into whey protein powder, which is widely used in sports nutrition and fitness. Whey protein is not a new concept, but it was interesting seeing the production team engage with the idea and begin thinking about whey not simply as something that comes out of the cheese-making process, but as something that could potentially be put to further use.

Of course, turning liquid whey into protein powder is not as simple as it sounds. The process requires significant energy, particularly because of the amount of water that needs to be removed, but that is exactly why I think these conversations are important.

Not every idea we come across has to become a product immediately. Sometimes the value is in learning what is possible, understanding what it would take, and giving our teams the exposure to think differently about the processes they work with every day.

Looking Beyond the Food on the Shelf

As I walked around the show, I found myself paying particular attention to something beyond the finished products.

I wanted to understand what people are doing to improve our food systems. I came across indigenous seeds like mucuna and Sanga seeds, these caught my attention because of the different ways indigenous crops can contribute not only to nutrition, but also to agriculture, animal feed and traditional uses.

It reminded me that Africa has such a rich food heritage, and there is still so much we can learn from ingredients that have been around us for generations.

I visited stalls showcasing seed saving and indigenous crops, and I was fascinated by the conversations around soil health and how we can improve the way we grow our food.

This is something I think about quite a lot as a nutritionist.

We talk so much about what is on our plate protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals and calories, but we sometimes forget to ask a much bigger question:

Where did that food come from, and what kind of system produced it?

As a community, a culture and a country, I feel there is so much more we can do to bring diversity back into our food systems.

We have such a rich history of indigenous foods and ancient grains, yet many of these foods have slowly disappeared from our everyday diets. So I found myself asking: What are we doing in nutrition to bring these foods back? How do we make ancient grains part of the way we eat today, rather than simply talking about them as foods of the past?

For me, this is an important conversation. Diversity in our diets is not just about having more options on a supermarket shelf. It is about preserving knowledge, supporting farmers, protecting biodiversity and giving people access to a wider range of nutritious foods.

The Grain Storage Question

But one of my favourite discoveries came from a very simple question.

I came across a stall showcasing grains and immediately wanted to know: How are you able to store these grains for such a long time without the pests and weevils getting to them? Ash!

Not the chemical grain treatments commercially used, but ash a traditional method that has been used to help protect stored grains and seeds from pests.

It was one of those moments where you realise that sometimes the knowledge we are looking for may not always be found in the newest product on the shelf.

There is a lot of traditional knowledge that deserves to be explored, understood and, where appropriate, brought back into the conversation.

And Then I Thought About Brown's

This was probably my biggest takeaway from the show.

Standing there and seeing some of the agricultural products and solutions being promoted made me think about what we already have at Brown's.

We grow vegetables using compost that we make ourselves. We work with the soil rather than simply looking at what we can add to the plant. We think about the relationship between healthy soil, healthy plants and, ultimately, healthy people.

We also had the opportunity to listen to people speaking about soil health and different ways of improving our soils. This really resonated with me because I kept thinking about how much we already have around us that can be returned to the soil.

Kitchen waste. Crop residues. Animal manure. Plant material. Compost.

Waste that can become something valuable for the soil.

And then I thought about the many small-scale farmers who may not have access to this kind of knowledge.

Many farmers are encouraged to reach for agricultural inputs because they are presented as the quickest or easiest solution. But what if we spent more time showing farmers how to make use of what they already have around them? What if we invested more in teaching soil health, composting, seed saving and regenerative ways of farming?

I am not saying that every traditional method is automatically better, or that modern agricultural inputs have no place. But I do believe we need to keep asking questions and give farmers more choices, especially choices that help them understand and build the health of their soil over time.

For me, this is where the Africa Food Show connected back to what we do every day at Brown's.

More Than a Food Show

We went to the Africa Food Show looking for opportunities, ideas and connections.

We found those things, but we also found reminders of the knowledge that already exists around us.

Our cheese team came away thinking about Halloumi, Paneer, vegetarian rennet and whey utilisation. Our farm team saw new ideas around indigenous crops, seed saving and agricultural practices. Our sales team got a closer look at what is happening in the food market. And I came away thinking about fermentation, traditional ingredients, indigenous seeds, food preservation, soil health and the importance of bringing diversity back into our diets.

That is what makes these experiences valuable.

You go looking for one thing and sometimes come back with something completely different.

For us, the Africa Food Show was not just about discovering new food.

It was about asking better questions, looking at what we already have with fresh eyes, and remembering that some of the most valuable food knowledge may be sitting in our farms, our communities and our traditions, waiting for us to pay attention.

There is still so much to learn from Africa's food story. And perhaps the next step is not always finding something new, but remembering what we already knew.

Author: Edel Radido | Resident Nutritionist