BAKING WITH SOY TRAINING
BAKING WITH SOY TRAINING
A Baking with Soy Training organized for bakers, which is part of the Soy campaign being championed by the American Soybean Association (ASA)/ World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) in partnership with Yedent Agro-Group of Companies Limited and The Little Cow (TLC). The training was facilitated by Dr. Suresh Itapu, who was brought on by ASA/WISHH, and supported by Mrs. Florence Ofori-Agyemang. The training took place at the training center of Yedent Agro-Group of Companies.
Soybean is one of the nature’s wonderful nutritional gifts. It is one of the very few plants that provide a complete protein with minimum saturated fat. Regular consumption of soybean help people feel better and live longer with an enhanced quality of life. Soybeans contains all the three macro nutrients required for good nutrition; complete protein, carbohydrate and fat, as well as vitamins and minerals, including folic acid, calcium, potassium and iron. Compared to any food product, soybean has very good amount of phyto-chemicals such as isoflavones, which have a number of health benefits.
For this reason the American Soybean Association together with their partners World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) has made it their mandate to push the consumption of soy products in African countries including Ghana. This campaign was handed to The Little Cow (TLC), a marketing agency to lead this initiative which target two main soy products – soy chunks and soy flour. The soyflour campaign was dubbed “Soy Flour for Bread and More” and the target audience were bakers and flour wholesalers. The main goal of this campaign was to equip bakers and wholesaler selected from across Ghana with knowledge on how to correctly use soy flour for baking bread and other foods. The training is also expected to equip them with knowledge to be able to speak to the benefits of using soy flour.
OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING:
Below are the objectives of the training.
• Highlight the cost benefits amongst other benefits of using soy flour in baking
• Practically demonstrate the benefits of baking with soy flour
• Create a network of bakers who become ambassadors of using soy flour in baking
BACKGROUND ON PARTICIPANTS
The initial plan was to target nineteen (19) bakers and one (1) flour wholesaler, however this number increased due to the media recognition the training received. Thus at the end of the training program, forty-one (41) bakers participated in the training.
The training was fully facilitated by Dr. Suresh Itapu and Florence Ofori-Agyemang. Learning sessions were mainly based on practical applications and feedbacks executed using the following approaches:
• Mini Lectures
• Facilitator led demonstrations
• Group practical
TRAINING STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITIES
The training was a three-day event which commenced on Sunday – October 9, 2022 with an introduction session and program orientation. Participants were briefed on the business of Yedent Agro Group Of Companies Limited and the rationale behind partnering with ASA/WISHH and TLC to populate the use of soy in food. The opportunity was also given for participants to introduce themselves by sharing the following information:
• Name
• Bakery name
• Location
• Training expectations
Full training session began on Monday – October 10, 2022 with a short lecture by Dr. Suresh Itapu on the nutritional and cost benefits of using soyflour in baking. This was immediately followed with a demonstration on baking bread with soyflour by Florence Ofori-Agyemang under the supervision of Dr. Suresh. The activities of the training was centered mostly on practical session, where the participants were given the opportunity to try their hands on the recipes in groups. There were some interceptions in between practical during which participants shared various experiences gained in the business, the wins and the losses.
