Every day, innovation happens in many forms at Aboitiz Foods—from farm trials to streamlined processes to technological advancements. However, it’s not every day that our team members get to showcase their innovative ideas and turn them into something impactful for the organization.
That’s where The Mill comes in.
As Aboitiz Foods’ product innovation competition, The Mill creates space for team members share ideas that can strengthen performance, address real challenges, and contribute meaningful impact. A prime example is the winning team from Indonesia—1st place winners at The Mill—which includes Rifki Putra Adimulia, Yasmin Firdaus, Krisna Yulian Irwanto, and Satria Al Yuda. Their reason for participating in the competition was straightforward: “It’s a platform where we can showcase our ideas that help improve our products and performance, ultimately benefiting the company,” said Rifki, Assistant Manager for Nutrition R&D.
Their winning project, titled “Optimization of Liver Function to Boost Broiler Performance,” explored the use of bile acid as an alternative raw material to improve fat digestion efficiency for broiler poultry. Due to the ongoing increase in raw material costs in Indonesia, the team, composed of nutritionists from various mills, needed to quickly develop solutions.
“It challenged us,” Yasmin, Junior Nutritionist from the Bekasi mill, explained regarding their decision to join The Mill. She also admitted she had high hopes for the team’s project, saying, “During the presentation, I was just confident that we would be number one.” “We realized there are many opportunities for the Research & Technology and Development (RTD) department to share our ideas with The Mill, make it a chance to collaborate with other departments, and turn those ideas into real impact for our business,” she added.
For the team, The Mill is beyond just a competition; it serves as a platform to allow ideas to be seen, tested, and potentially scale beyond one country.
“It was fulfilling to share our success story with our leaders. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share our innovation, and hopefully, we can also implement it in other countries as well,” cited Yuda, a Junior Nutritionist based in Medan.
Krisna, a Junior Nutritionist from Surabaya, highlighted innovation as an Aboitiz value that guided them the most. “Innovation is important because it helps us solve problems in smarter and more efficient ways. As nutritionists in the RTD department, we encounter numerous challenges each day, and if we keep using the same methods even as our challenges change, we won’t grow. Innovation motivates us to improve, stay competitive, and allows us to grow both as teams and in the company,” he stated.
For Yasmin, Rifki, Yuda, and Krisna, the “Always Better” mindset encourages them to continually seek improvement and to rely on data to make informed decisions. This principle is a core value that fuels Aboitiz Foods’ high-performance culture, empowering team members to think creatively and drive the organization forward.
FAQs
- What is The Mill?
The Mill is Aboitiz Foods’ product innovation competition that provides a platform for team members to share ideas that can strengthen performance, address real challenges, and contribute meaningful impact to the organization. - Which team won first place at The Mill’s Breakthrough Day?
The team from Indonesia won first place. The members are Rifki Putra Adimulia, Yasmin Firdaus, Krisna Yulian Irwanto, and Satria Al Yuda. - What was the title and goal of the winning project?
The winning project was titled “Optimization of Liver Function to Boost Broiler Performance.” It explored the use of bile acid as an alternative raw material to improve fat digestion efficiency for broiler poultry, a solution developed in response to the ongoing increase in raw material costs in Indonesia. - What Aboitiz core value is highlighted by the team’s success?
The “Always Better” mindset is highlighted as a core value that encourages the team to continually seek improvement and rely on data to make informed decisions. Krisna also highlighted innovation as an Aboitiz value that helps them solve problems in smarter and more efficient ways.
