A MetLife Survey indicated that while 67 percent of American employees are interested in taking an assignment that lasts three or more months in another country, only 15 percent have had the opportunity to do so. One way that Land O’Lakes, Inc. facilitates these opportunities and promotes cross-cultural learning is through short-term rotations, including through its Talent Acceleration Program (TAP). TAP is a two-year, rotational leadership development program designed to give recent college graduates broad experience across the Land O’Lakes enterprise. Most recently, two supply chain professionals, Maddie Brandt and Morgan Callin, participated in TAP, which included six-month international rotations with Venture37 in the Republic of Georgia and Rwanda.

Meet Maddie
Maddie Brandt studied Supply Chain Management and Finance at Iowa State University. Before her rotation with Venture37, Maddie worked in dairy manufacturing and in sustainable sourcing. Maddie spent her international rotation with the USDA Safety and Quality Investment in Livestock (SQIL) project in Tbilisi, Georgia. During her rotation, she focused on developing the milk supply chain from farmers to processors through quality and efficiency improvements. She is now joining Land O’Lakes’ Supply Chain Quality External Manufacturing team in Arden Hills, Minnesota



Meet Morgan
Morgan Callin studied Biological Engineering and Communication at Purdue University. Her prior rotations include one year in a Land O’Lakes cheese manufacturing facility and six months in corporate dairy R&D. She spent her six-month international rotation in Kigali, Rwanda working with the Feed the Future Rwanda Orora Wihaze activity, where she supported food processing and quality improvement for rural-based meat processing enterprises. Upon her return to the United States, she will join the Land O’Lakes’ Melrose, Minnesota dairy manufacturing facility as a process engineer.
 

How did you leverage your Land O’Lakes experience during your TAP rotations?

Maddie: During my rotation, I worked on supply chain improvements that boost the quality of milk for farmers in Tbilisi, Georgia. With my team’s support, I recognized an opportunity to improve the sanitization of equipment that is used to transport milk from farm to processor. With connections I made through the TAP program, I was able to connect with folks from the Land O’Lakes Quality team and leverage Land O’Lakes’ relationship with Ecolab (a Global provider offering cleaning and sanitization program and products) to discuss opportunities for improvement. Ecolab Turkey and their local distributor hosted a theoretical sanitization training for processors, and practical training sessions will be held in the upcoming months.

Pictured right: Maddie visits the Swiss Agricultural School's cheese making facility. 

Morgan: During my time at Land O’Lakes, I have worked with a lot of different parts of the enterprise; especially because the TAP program emphasizes building connections with people throughout the company. Through my connections with both corporate and plant quality teams, I was able to help apply some quality practices for project grantees’ businesses. One of the project interns was working with a fish processing/distribution business to develop a process flow map and HACCP program to help mitigate quality risks related to cross-contamination and hazards in the product. I leveraged the knowledge I gained from working with the quality teams in the United States to help the intern develop a comprehensive, robust quality program that the business could effectively implement and maintain, even after her internship had ended.

What was your most memorable experience or biggest learning?

Maddie: I had the opportunity to travel around the country to learn more about the dairy supply chain and challenges that processors and farmers are facing. One of my favorite memories happened during my first month in Georgia: I was traveling for a two-day mobile milk machine training a couple of hours from the SQIL office. With my (very broken) knowledge of the Georgian language, I was able to bond and laugh with farmers from the village. During this training I observed challenges that farmers and processors face during milk collection and cheese processing, which was crucial information for my project. We were invited to a Georgian supra (feast), where I learned to make one of their most famous dishes and my favorite Georgian food – khinkali!

Morgan: In Rwanda, I had the opportunity to work with four interns from the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA). These young women (pictured right) were working with Orora Wihaze’s partners in different districts and sending their reports and updates through me and their supervisors. One of the greatest things I learned from them was the importance of helping businesses understand why the hygiene and quality criteria should matter to both the businesses and their customers. It was easy to forget that even though my background provided me with plenty of context as to why hygiene and quality were important, many of our clients don’t necessarily have that knowledge. To make sustainable change, we had to meet them where they were. The RICA interns really helped me see that in action.
 

What will you take back with you to your next role?

Maddie: Since moving back to the United States, I joined Land O’Lakes’ Supply Chain Quality External Manufacturing team. I work with stakeholders across the country who have diverse backgrounds both professionally and personally. During my time with the SQIL team, I learned how to further develop my relationship building skills, especially with people from different backgrounds than my own. I am very excited to take this skill to my next role as I build cross-functional relationships in my new role.  

Morgan: The greatest thing that I will take back with me to my new role as a process engineer is the confidence I gained from my experience in Kigali. It can be very challenging working in an entirely new culture and part of the world. I had to become a lot more comfortable with being uncomfortable and not having all the answers. I now feel far more prepared to adapt to new situations than I felt in the past. I’m also extremely thankful for all the relationships I made with the Orora Wihaze team in Rwanda, and I am excited to keep in touch with them.


The USDA SQIL team (left) and Feed the Future Orora Wihaze team (right) gather together for group photos. 

The USDA Safety and Quality Investment in Livestock (SQIL) program works with Georgian dairy and livestock agribusinesses to improve food safety and quality protocols. SQIL is building up food safety practices through a private-sector led effort, supported by the Georgian Farmers Association and leveraging experience from Land O’Lakes, Inc.

The Feed the Future Rwanda Orora Wihaze activity is piloting and scaling solution to strengthen inclusive market systems for animal-sourced food production, marketing, and consumption. Land O’Lakes implements the program in collaboration with consortium partners Catholic Relief Services, MarketShare Associates, the Manoff Group, and Urunana Development Communications.

This year, the Land O’Lakes’ TAP program celebrates its 10^th anniversary. The program was founded in 2013 – by CEO Beth Ford; Tanya Dowda, Director of Sourcing, Business Alignment & Supplier Diversity; and now led by Shary Kempainen, Supply Chain Talent Strategy Manager – with the goal of recruiting and developing talent in the supply chain sector.