People
Nate Blum
Chief Executive Officer,
Sorghum United
Mr. Blum is a native Nebraskan with roots on a fourth-generation family farm operation consisting of row crops. His passion for public service and agriculture has led him to careers working for farmers as staff at the US House of Representatives and as the former Executive Director of the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Board and Nebraska Sorghum Producers Association.
âI firmly believe in the value of sorghum and millets to human and animal health. Importantly, our changing global climate requires a renewed emphasis on water-smart and drought-resistant grains. Consumer and producer education in regard to the value of sorghum and millets, which meet the challenges of climate-smart agriculture, is vital to the future of our our species on this planet.â
Email: sorghumunited@gmail.com
Website: www.sorghumunited.com.
Monia Caramma
Monia Caramma is Chief Sustainable Food Officer and Susteinable food Reseacher. She has been studying ancient grains with and without gluten since 2000 and she met sorghum in 2015 when she started the first milling trials. In 2017 Monia Caramma formulated the technique of gelatinization and processing of this cereal, obtaining a 100% sorghum dry pasta with excellent cooking hold without the use of additives, emulsifiers, binders. She is member of the Steering Committee of Sorghum ID and Vice President of Sorghum United. Columnist, author, she is involved in the popularization of issues related to food, its processing and its effects on people's well-being. She is former at official international and national Congress for doctors, dieticians and nutritionists, health and wellness professionals. Monia Caramma formulates healthy and sustainable foods. She was included in the Forbes 2021 ranking of the 100 most influential women in Italy. In 2021 her book has been released: Ancient and Modern Cereals, why knowing the variety of flour you eat can save your life. In 2023 her second book has been released;La Verità vi prego sul cibo; manuale di sopravvivenza alimentareâ. Her articles have been published in Journal of Food and Nutritional disorders, Tecniche molitorie, altra medicina, Professional Pasta, among others.
Jangaiah Anika
Founder
Kuku Millets
Entrepreneur, visionary dreamer for good food for good health, Agritech and Tech savvy.
Setup, scaled and managed businesses with cross-functional responsibilities that have been holistically entrepreneurial, with 'hands-on' experience across diverse markets in the Globally.
Designed and developing Innovative things for SaaS, agri clusters. that included optimising supply chains of traditional commodities and consumer goods, as well as deploying disruptive digital solutions to create and capture value.
Experienced product leader with a cross-functional experience across Technology, Product, Business & People, Create innovative solutions to real-world challenges.
website: www.kukumillets.com
Nicholas Musisi
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Nutri-Worth
Nicholas is a Ugandan with more than 6 years experience working with millets and sorghum.
He began his work with millets in 2015 using it in the management and prevention of malnutrition among children and women in Eastern Uganda; later moving into research on millets and sorghum products that can be used as a nutritious food option during the 1000 days window of opportunity. As founder and team lead
Nutri-Worth; Nicholas continues to advocate for healthy food systems and believes millets are a game. changer in the campaign against food insecurity.
Website: www.nutriworth.org
Franco Borgogno
Galuy Foods
Franco Borgogno is a Self-taught plant-based food designer, based in Argentina who explores food through a holistic approach according to its material, healing and emotional properties. He is the founder of galuy Foods, An Argentinean start-up that produces plant-based food mainly made from âSorghumâ following a regenerative agriculture and production system where all the crops produced are gluten free. The star product is the âSorghumâ patties which consumers are choosing as a new old alternative for Burgers since itâs an ancient grain and people in Africa, India and Asia have been having it for millennia. His work as researcher has led him to know the core of different cultures and lived in places such as New Zealand, Israel, Thailand, Singapore, Costa Rica and the U.S.A. Heâs currently collaborating on various projects that seek to have a positive impact on the food industry
https://www.galuy.com/
Joanna Kane-Potaka
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Choosing FOOD3050
I have worked in development and food and agriculture for most of my career living in India, Sri Lanka, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. The previous 9 years I lived in India and heard about millets and sorghum for the first time and quickly became converted.
I believe we need to drive demand for smarter foods and especially focus on more nutritious and diverse staples â this is how we can have big impact on the health of people and the planet. Underlying this is supporting the smaller entrepreneurs and farmers to be profitable and key players in the economy.
As the founder and previous Executive Director of Smart Food, I have focused on mainstreaming millets. This includes working with a team to create reality TV for a cause. Along with a global team we undertook the largest studies on the nutrition and health benefits of millets including on diabetes, anaemia, growth/malnutrition, hyperlipidemia and calcium retention and deficiencies. We undertook the first-ever scientific studies on millets in school feeding programs which were undertaken in Tanzania and India. We conducted a number of market analyses for the demand potential for millets, including the largest consumer study on millets with 15,500 face-to-face interviews across 7 cities in India. We also published the first coffee table book on millets, The Millet Movement in India, selling in Amazon.
I started my career as an agricultural economist and later moved into market research in agribusiness and other related areas.
In January 2022, I returned to my home country Australia and am starting new initiatives to further build the millet value chains. See more at: website: www.letsmillet.org
MOHAMED ZELLAMA
Co-Founder ORI Sorgho
Consumer of sorghum since my childhood in my native Tunisia, I am an architect. I have fifteen years of experience in the management of architecture / real estate / industry projects within major industrial clients in Tunisia & France & Europe (PSA RETAIL / REXAM HEALTHCARE / ORANGINA / AIRBUS / NOVARES AUTOMOTIVE / CNRS PUBLIC RESEARCH / PUREVER CLEANROOMS / MERCK HEATHCARE ) .
In 2019, I discovered sorghum in France, the project emerged in a few days. I attributed the year 2020 to the study and competence of this adventure, the decision is made after reflection, organization of roles and consumer tests: ORI was born in 2021.
Entrepreneur in human food, activity based on knowledge and an ancient human practice reinvented and re-enchanted for a new culinary experience.
ORI is the New Specialist in Dietary and Sustainable Solutions (Whole Cereals, No Preservatives, No Dyes, No Flavors, No Additives, No Processed Foods, No Sweeteners), Vegan and Naturally Gluten-Free!
ORI is a company with a mission committed to its territory to support economic players in agriculture and industry to innovate, create sustainable value and build efficient, scalable, agile and low-tech production facilities and tools.
Our ORI SORGHUM universe is dedicated to the creation of intelligent food solutions based on SORGHUM, this ancient grain oriented towards the future!
With a multidisciplinary team, we act for sustainable agriculture, a responsible industry and tasty food.
Our Mission: Participate in the awakening of your senses and make you travel through cultures.
Martin Gomez
International promotion manager
FNPSMS
Graduated of the Agricultural School of Angers (FRANCE), after a first experience as product
manager, I specialized into European seed sector and international cooperation for agricultural
projects. As international promotion manager for the French Federation of the National Production
of Maize and Sorghum Seeds (FNPSMS) and Sorghum ID, I dedicate my efforts to promote a
sustainable way to produce food. I believe agriculture should be based on the cultivation of the most
relevant varieties for each climate and challenges by well-trained professionals. That is why we are
committed to build a strong European Sorghum sector within the association Sorghum ID by
cooperating with institutions, seeds professionals, researchers, farmers and industrial users.
website: www.maizeurop.com