Business school teaching case study: A cereal for growth

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The author is associate professor of marketing at the University of York.

In northern Ghana, a social enterprise has been working to help tackle the chronic child malnutrition that is undermining human development and regional productivity. Now, it faces a choice of how to expand as it seeks to balance purpose and profit.

Savannah & Sahel Commodities (SSCL) worked with the University of Development Studies in Tamale and the University of York in the UK on a knowledge transfer partnership that was finalised in 2023. Funded by Innovate UK with £137,000 in 2021, the partners developed C-Real, a cereal made from maize, rice, soyabeans and fortified with 18 vitamins and minerals.

All the ingredients are locally sourced from regenerative agroforestry farms, creating a substantial environmental and social benefit. The aim was to create a branded product that could improve nutrition while generating sustainable economic opportunities in one of Ghana’s poorest regions.

The project delivered clear results. Farmers reported higher incomes and greater financial security, with some gaining access to loans for the first time. Over the past three years, farmer co-operatives have transitioned back to regenerative farming. They now substitute nearly 60 per cent of inorganic fertiliser with animal manure, compost, and biochar (a type of charcoal), while intentionally building organic matter into their agroforestry soils.

This shift has reduced input costs and increased yields by about 30 per cent. As a result, farming confidence has been restored within communities such as Zoggu in northern Ghana, leading to greater income stability and improved financial security. Fifty seven women gained jobs in cereal processing and distribution. Health clinics began distributing C-Real to children to combat malnutrition, and shopkeepers introduced the product in local markets.

For SSCL, sales and profitability rose in parallel with social benefits. C-Real contributes 10 per cent of the company’s total income, with gross margins significantly higher than those of the commodity trading division. While the sector’s average gross margins are lower, C-Real achieves about 40 per cent.

The venture is an example of “shared value”, the idea popularised by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer that businesses can deliver both competitive advantage and societal progress by providing a robust food solution for malnourished children. Yet its early success has brought it to a crossroads: how to sustain growth without losing its social purpose.

The most obvious route forward is national expansion. Ghana’s urban markets, from Accra to Kumasi, offer larger pools of consumers with disposable income and growing awareness of nutritional products. Entering these markets could transform SSCL from a regional player into a national brand, providing financial sustainability and attracting investor interest. Expansion could also give the brand greater visibility as a local alternative to imported cereals.

But national scaling comes with significant risks. Competing against multinational incumbents such as Nestlé’s Cerelac would require heavy spending on distribution, marketing and quality assurance. Such global brands already enjoy established supply chains, widespread consumer trust and marketing budgets far beyond the reach of a Ghanaian SME.

Scaling also raises the question of identity. The company’s legitimacy has been built on being a community-based, socially-driven enterprise. Rapid national expansion could force C-Real to compete primarily on price or brand image. Its founding commitment to tackling malnutrition risks being diluted.

Remaining locally focused is an alternative approach. SSCL could deepen its impact in northern Ghana, strengthen farmer co-operatives, embed its product in school feeding schemes and consolidate community loyalty. Such a strategy might better preserve the integrity of its original mission and limit exposure to multinational competition.

Yet it also risks constraining growth and undermining financial sustainability, while weakening the brand’s ability to compete against global products shaping consumer preferences across the country.

The company must choose between scaling with mission drift, or preserving purpose at the cost of slower growth. These tensions are not unique to SSCL. Many purpose-driven enterprises in emerging markets face the same paradox when balancing social commitments with the pressures of competing against global incumbents.

For example, in Nigeria, Babban Gona, a purpose-driven agricultural enterprise, has scaled to boost farmer incomes and create jobs while attracting significant investment. In contrast, Wefarm, once hailed as the world’s largest farmer-to-farmer digital network, collapsed after rapid expansion outpaced its ability to build a sustainable business model.

Expanding a socially-oriented brand in competitive consumer markets is not only about production capacity or logistics. It is also about brand positioning: how to remain credible as a mission-driven enterprise while convincing consumers in urban supermarkets to choose a local cereal over global labels backed by large and long-standing marketing campaigns.

The challenge for SSCL is intensified by the expectations of scale by investors — even those focused on public good as well as financial returns. Impact investors and development finance institutions frequently demand evidence of national or regional reach. Without growth beyond northern Ghana, the company risks being perceived as too small or too local to generate substantial backing.

This strategic dilemma coincides with the completion of new SSCL factory and warehouse facilities, which the company financed with support from Research Innovations Systems for Africa. With the commissioning of the new factory, cereals are projected to account for nearly 70 per cent of SSCL’s total income, positioning the brand as the company’s main growth driver.

These developments will help C-Real expand production capacity and scale faster. But SSCL will need to continue to weigh purpose against profit.

Or as CEO Senyo Kpelly puts it: “In northern Ghana, especially in communities like Jana and Zogu, the social realities make ‘business as usual’ impossible. Balancing purpose with profit isn’t optional for us, it’s how we build resilient supply chains and real impact.”