From Grains to Roti: A Mill Visit to Yog Foods

Last month, Yog Foods, a mill based in Ranjangaon near Pune, launched the production of their fortified chakki atta (wheat flour) with support from Fortify Health. Members of the Program and Quality team and the three of us who recently joined Fortify Health - Rebecca from Kenya, Beth from the UK, and Janani from India - all joined the launch.

We were greeted by Mr. Yogesh Bhos who generously offered us some cool lassi (sweetened buttermilk). While some people went inside the mill to prepare, Mr. Bhos told us about his business model- as a small business, his margins are limited by his low working capital. Unlike the large firms, he cannot buy wheat in bulk and store it for months. His eyes lit up as he talked about adding fortification to his mill and his hopes to expand, automate production and generate higher-quality atta. He spoke passionately about fortification and suggested that we use local women’s groups - his wife is a member - to spread awareness about it. We ended the conversation with a better understanding of the challenges of atta production, a newfound curiosity about the wheat grain type we each consume, and gratitude for the delicious lassi. 

Our tour of the mill began in the storage area where several bags of unprocessed wheat were fed into a series of machines that cleaned the grains, first by separating them from dust, stones and metals, and second by the process of surface abrasion. Thereafter, a small amount of moisture was added to the clean grains to condition them for milling. The final product of this process was golden, shiny and clean wheat grains, and a cloud of dust- a perilous environment for the unprepared asthmatic.

Four chakkis (stone mills) ground the clean grain into atta. First, the flour was sifted and separated from excess air. Thereafter a microdoser added premix (containing iron, folic acid and vitamin B12) to the flour and after a thorough mix, the fortified atta was packed into sealed bags and set aside, ready for distribution. We ended our tour of the mill with a deeper appreciation of the straightforward yet impactful process tiny wheat grains go through to become our allies in improving public health.

After our tour Kishan (Senior Quality Officer) taught the mill workers - and us - how to check if the microdoser was working properly. The process is precise yet simple, and is easy to complete in the mill with no need for specialist equipment: take a sample of fortified atta, level it out in a petri dish, and add a couple of chemicals. If iron has been successfully added then red dots will appear. 

Fortify Health has a manual with clear instructions and pictures explaining what different results indicate. We observed the results for fortified and non-fortified atta - they matched the manual’s pictures exactly. Going forward the millers will complete this testing process for each batch, to ensure the quality of fortified atta remains consistent. 

After the testing, we took a photo with the newly fortified bags of atta. There was a sense of occasion: it may only take a few minutes to turn on the microdoser, test the samples and stick the label on the bag, but a mill launch day is the culmination of months of work. We waved goodbye to the miller and his puppy (narrowly avoiding running it over as it napped under our car) and he invited us to visit again. 

We hope to return. No doubt by then Yog Foods will have produced thousands of metric tonnes of fortified atta and provided nutritious rotis to lakhs of customers - and the puppy will no longer be a puppy.