Private Sector Advances Action on Global Food Fortification at Hamburg Sustainability Convenings
Coalition leaders gather in Hamburg to strengthen partnerships and accelerate market-based solutions for improved nutrition.
Hamburg, Germany — Millers for Nutrition joined global leaders in Hamburg to reinforce the role of food fortification as a critical solution to addressing hidden hunger and building more resilient food systems. During the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, the private sector-led coalition welcomed the Hamburg Call to Action on Catalyzing Large-Scale Food Fortification to End Child Malnutrition by 2030 and commended the leadership of the German Government in bringing together cross-sector partners and advancing concrete actions to accelerate large-scale food fortification, reaffirming its commitment to expanding access to nutritious staple foods through stronger public-private collaboration and sustainable market-driven approaches.
This comes at a time when food systems worldwide face increasing pressure to improve nutrition outcomes while ensuring affordability, accessibility, and long-term sustainability. The Hamburg Call to Action brings together governments, businesses, multilateral organizations, civil society, and development partners around a shared commitment to accelerate large-scale food fortification as an effective strategy to reduce micronutrient deficiencies and improve maternal and child nutrition.
Millers for Nutrition is a private sector-led coalition that works with food processors, governments, development organizations, and industry partners to make food fortification easier, more rewarding, and more sustainable. By supporting commercially viable fortification models and strengthening the broader enabling ecosystem, the coalition helps food processors consistently produce high-quality fortified staple foods that reach consumers through open markets.
“Food fortification has the power to improve millions of lives, but lasting progress can only be achieved through partnership,” said Torsten Wywiol, CEO of Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, whose Mühlenchemie business is a founding and strategic fortification partner of Millers for Nutrition. “The Hamburg Call to Action is an important signal that governments, businesses and development organisations are united behind a common goal. By combining science, entrepreneurship and international collaboration, we can build sustainable food systems that make nutritious staple foods accessible to more people around the world.”
The coalition’s endorsement was echoed by leaders from across the food industry, who emphasized the importance of coordinated action to combat hidden hunger.
“Hidden hunger is not a challenge for any one country to solve alone. It touches every region where staple foods fall short of the vitamins and minerals people need, and food fortification remains one of the most scalable ways to close that gap,” said Sanjeev Asthana, CEO of Patanjali Foods Limited and a Miller Advisor to Millers for Nutrition. “The Hamburg Call to Action rightly puts the first 1,000 days at the centre of this effort, because ensuring mothers and children get essential nutrients during this critical window can shape the health of entire generations. Building resilient food systems for the world’s most vulnerable communities will take governments, industry, and development partners working together, and platforms like the Hamburg Sustainability Conference are exactly where that collaboration needs to happen.”
Alongside the conference, Millers for Nutrition convened its Annual Coalition Meeting, hosted by Mühlenchemie, bringing together senior representatives from strategic fortification partners, ecosystem partners, the Gates Foundation, and coalition leadership. The meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the coalition’s progress, share lessons from implementation across Africa and Asia, and identify priorities for expanding the impact of market-led food fortification.
Discussions focused on strengthening trusted partnerships across the food system, improving enabling market conditions, and supporting commercially sustainable business models that encourage long-term investment in quality food fortification. Participants also explored opportunities to deepen collaboration, accelerate innovation, and expand technical support to food processors as demand for fortified staple foods continues to grow.
“The progress we’ve seen isn’t simply reflected in the numbers,” said Rizwan Yusufali, Program Director of Millers for Nutrition. “It’s reflected in the trusted relationships we’ve built with more than 900 millers, allowing the coalition to understand their challenges, respond with targeted, data-driven support, and create practical solutions that make quality fortification both achievable and sustainable. Those partnerships are what ultimately transform markets and enable millions more people to access nutritious staple foods.”
As the coalition continues its work across Africa and Asia, Millers for Nutrition remains committed to advancing practical, market-based solutions that empower food processors, strengthen food systems, and improve access to fortified staple foods. The coalition’s endorsement of the Hamburg Call to Action reflects a shared belief that ending hidden hunger will require sustained collaboration across governments, industry, and development partners—and that resilient, nutrition-sensitive markets are essential to achieving that goal.
