Leading dairy brand, Hollandia, has held the maiden edition of its Hollandia Dairy Day. This event is a public interest initiative undertaken by CHI Limited, makers of the Hollandia brand, to raise awareness about the nutritious value of dairy products and how daily consumption plays a key role in achieving optimum health.
The theme for this year’s event, “Dairy Nourishment to Support Healthy Living”, was informed by the need to highlight the role dairy consumption plays in our everyday nourishment.
Speaking, the Head of Legal/Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, CHI Limited, Mr. Israel Dan’Auta, drew attention to the low dairy consumption figures in Nigeria and stressed the need for daily dairy consumption. He expressed confidence that the “Hollandia Dairy Day conference will be an effective forum for discussing the way forward in dairy nutrition, setting priorities as well as connecting with today’s consumers at a deeper and more meaningful level.”
In partnership with health, nutrition and communication experts who were carefully selected, CHI Limited hopes to empower consumers to consider consumption of dairy products in their diets every day.
One of the guest speakers, Senior Dietitian at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Cynthia Onyekwere, highlighted that dairy has been categorized as a major food group and has recommended daily portions for each individual. She stated that despite this, the intake of dairy in Nigeria has been relatively low (10 to 20 litres per capita consumption).
She noted that dairy products provide good sources macro and micro nutrients such as calcium; protein, phosphorous, vitamin D and A. “One cup of yoghurt meets about a quarter of our daily protein needs, nearly half of our daily requirement of calcium and two third of our daily need of phosphorous. While a cup of milk meets a third of our daily requirement of vitamin D and one sixth of our daily needs of vitamin A,” she concluded.
Another guest speaker, Amaka Okwesilieze Nwaora, a Nutrition Consultant/Public Health Expert stated that milk naturally contains many nutrients and only relatively few calories. “Regular consumption of milk and dairy products is recommended for all age groups as they are indispensable in every phase of our lives. Children need vital nutrients in milk to grow up in good health, while milk helps adults get the vital nutrients they need. Older people need milk calcium for strong bones and teeth,” she added.
Hollandia Dairy Day will also draw attention to the Hollandia corporate social responsibility activities through its Hollandia Nuture’A’Child Initiative, an initiative aimed at eliminating malnutrition amongst children.
Incorporated in 1980, CHI Limited was set up with the vision of local production of food products to meet the needs of Nigerian consumers. To achieve this objective, CHI Limited pioneered heavy investments and drove innovation across the value chain of Fruit Juices, Value Added Dairy beverages, and Snacks products in Nigeria. Through this objective, the company quickly established itself as a lead campaigner for quality, healthy, and nourishing home-grown brands whilst driving local economic development and growth.
An ISO 22000-certified company, CHI Limited employs state-of-the-art and internationally certified manufacturing technology that automates our production processes. These high quality ingredients and raw materials go through a fully automated production process that restricts human interference, and then are finally packed in aseptic packaging to ensure that the quality of the products is retained until or products by consumers.
In addition, CHI Limited prides itself as being one of the few FMCG companies who export quality food and beverage products to other African countries. Our passion for excellence and commitment to sustainable development is exemplified in our continuous efforts to provide the best foods and beverages to our consumers. Through our continuous investments in manufacturing and related infrastructure projects, CHI currently provides direct employment to about 4,500 people and indirect employment to over 12,000 people through our robust value chain.