Vita Kidz Porridge is Outside the Bowl’s proprietary blend of instant porridge that just one serving provides 70 percent of a child’s daily nutritional needs. It is corn-based and simply needs to have water added to it. The recipe includes extruded maize, vitamins, minerals, flavoring, and sugar.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the OTB South Africa team has developed three additional types of instant porridge: Vita Kidz (unflavored), Yummy Instant Maize, and Yummy Maize. Each of these are simplified recipes which makes them more affordable for relief efforts.
The OTB team is working 16-hour days to blend and package the product. They quickly shifted from producing Vita Kidz Porridge for schools to bags of porridge for families. The bottleneck in producing and packaging bags for families is the actual equipment. The equipment is set to quickly measure by weight bags that hold 200 meals. The machine that stitches the bags closed in about 2 seconds cannot be used in the same way for these smaller bags. The team is having to hand-fill these smaller bags and adjust how they are sewn closed.
The necessary machines for these smaller bags has been located. We’re currently raising the funds to purchase and install this equipment to speed up the process to get more food to families who are in dire need of nutrition.
