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Consultant- Food and Nutrition

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Consultant- Food and Nutrition

Term of Reference for Consultant- Food and Nutrition

Position Name:  Consultant – Food and Nutrition

Reporting Line: Sr. Program Manager – THR

Tenure:               September 2026 – May 2027

Positions:            1

Location:        Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

About PCI India: – 

PCI India, a registered Indian society, has been working in India for the past 26 years. We drive interventions to transform the lives of communities at scale by solving complex development problems. In the past year, PCI India reached more than 1.5 crore, i.e. 15 million people in1649 Blocks of 163 Districts in 14 States.

About the Project: –

PCI India is supporting strengthening of Take Home Ration (THR) Programme across Uttar Pradesh with focus on improving production systems, quality assurance mechanisms, food safety compliance, hygiene standards, and strengthening operational systems across all THR production units.

The consultant shall support quality monitoring, food safety systems, audit readiness, regulatory compliance, and continuous quality improvement across THR production units.

Key Roles & Responsibilities: –

    1. NFSA 2023-Complied THR Recipe
    • Provide technical facilitation and expert inputs for development, refinement and standardization of the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe.
    • Support technical consultations, formulation trials, validation and documentation related to the recipe.
    • Support standardization of the agreed recipe for implementation across THR units.
    1. Market-Viable Recipe Formulation and Product Development
    • Support end-to-end formulation and refinement of market-viable THR recipes/products.
    • Support ingredient selection, formulation trials, technical optimization and product feasibility.
    • Design/facilitate consumer testing and use findings to improve formulation and product acceptability.
    • Support pricing/costing analysis and development of an appropriate market strategy.
    • Document formulation, testing and market-development learning.
    1. SOP Development and Standardization
    • Prepare SOPs for the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe and the market-viable recipe/product.
    • Develop practical guidance covering recipe standardization, preparation/process requirements, quality checks, documentation and relevant food-safety practices.
    • Support orientation and adoption of SOPs by THR units and relevant functionaries.
    • Review and update SOPs based on implementation learning and technical findings.
    1. High-Risk Audit Support and Compliance
    • Provide technical support for implementation and follow-up of high-risk audit requirements across THR units.
    • Coordinate with relevant teams and functionaries across the 204 THR units on audit preparedness and compliance.
    • Review food-safety, quality, hygiene and process gaps and support corrective actions.
    • Track and support closure of audit observations through regular technical follow-up.
    • Strengthen checklists, guidance notes and technical tools required for audit readiness.
    1. Nutrition and Food Safety
    • Provide technical guidance on nutrition and food-safety aspects of THR production and handling.
    • Support review of nutritional quality and consistency of THR products against agreed requirements.
    • Provide inputs on hygiene, food handling, storage, processing and quality practices.
    • Support identification and mitigation of nutrition and food-safety risks at THR units.
    • Provide technical inputs for training and capacity building on nutrition and food safety.
    1. Technical Capacity Building
    • Assess technical capacity gaps among THR functionaries and relevant teams.
    • Facilitate training, orientation and practical demonstrations on recipe standardization, nutrition, food safety, SOP implementation and audit preparedness.
    • Provide technical mentoring and troubleshooting support to THR units.
    • Develop simple technical guidance and knowledge materials as required.
    1. Technical Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement
    • Coordinate with UPSRLM, THR units, SHGs, PCI State Team, technical partners and relevant government stakeholders.
    • Facilitate technical consultations and follow-up on recipe, nutrition, food-safety and audit-related issues.
    • Provide technical inputs for programme review meetings, presentations and reports.
    • Undertake field visits as required to provide technical support and validate implementation.
    1. Documentation, Learning and Continuous Improvement
    • Document formulation trials, consumer testing findings, technical decisions, implementation learning and good practices.
    • Identify opportunities to improve product quality, nutritional value, acceptability, food safety and operational feasibility.
    • Capture lessons and recommendations for scale-up and replication across THR units.

    • Undertake other food, nutrition, food-safety or product-development responsibilities assigned by the   Reporting Manager and aligned with the consultancy.

Key Deliverables:

 

S. No. Timeline Key Deliverables
1 Month 1

Sept 2026

 • Review existing THR recipes, technical documentation, food-safety practices, SOPs and high risk audit-readiness status.

• Map key technical requirements, gaps and priorities related to nutrition, food safety, recipe standardization and audit implementation.

• Initiate technical facilitation for the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe.

• Develop workplan for market-viable recipe development, consumer testing, pricing and market strategy.

• Initiate coordination with 204 THR units on priority food-safety and audit issues.

• Submit monthly technical report covering baseline findings, priorities, actions and next-month plan.
2 Month 2

Oct 2026

 • Support refinement and technical standardization of the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe.

• Develop/strengthen protocols for recipe trials, quality checks and documentation.

• Initiate market-viable recipe formulation and formulation trials.

• Develop tools/framework for consumer testing and product acceptability assessment.

• Review priority food-safety and nutrition gaps and provide recommendations.

• Support high-risk audit preparedness through technical guidance and coordination.

• Submit monthly technical report and management update.
3 Month 3

Nov 2026

 • Continue trials and refinement of the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe and implementation guidance.

• Conduct/coordinate consumer testing of the market-viable recipe/product and analyse feedback.

• Refine formulation based on consumer testing and technical findings.

• Initiate costing/pricing analysis for the market-viable recipe/product.

• Develop draft SOP for the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe.

• Provide technical support on food safety, nutrition and audit observations.

• Submit consolidated monthly technical report.
4 Month 4

Dec 2026

 • Strengthen/finalize technical formulation and standardization of the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe, subject to required validation/approval.

• Further refine market-viable recipe based on formulation trials and consumer testing.

• Develop technical inputs for pricing and preliminary market strategy.

• Prepare and validate SOP for the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe.

• Initiate/strengthen SOP for the market-viable recipe/product.

• Review high-risk audit observations and corrective-action requirements across THR units.

• Submit monthly report with technical findings, progress and recommendations.
5 Month 5

Jan 2027

 • Support implementation and field-level adoption of the NFSA 2023-complied recipe and related SOP.

• Complete/refine market-viable recipe formulation based on technical and consumer feedback.

• Support detailed pricing/costing and market strategy development.

• Finalize SOP for the market-viable recipe/product.

• Strengthen technical support to THR units on food safety, nutrition, hygiene and audit compliance.

• Facilitate technical capacity building/orientation for relevant THR functionaries.
6 Month 6

Feb 2027

 • Monitor implementation of both recipe SOPs and identify corrective actions.

• Provide technical support on recipe adherence, food safety, nutrition and quality.

• Review high-risk audit implementation and support follow-up/closure of technical observations across 204 THR units.

• Review market-viable product feedback, pricing assumptions and market strategy and recommend refinements.

• Document implementation learning and technical good practices.

• Provide technical inputs for programme reviews and management decisions.

• Submit monthly report covering progress, findings and recommendations.

• Review high-risk audit observations and corrective-action requirements across THR units.

• Submit monthly report with technical findings, progress and recommendations.
7 Month 7

Mar 2027

 • Conduct technical review of recipe implementation, product quality, nutrition and food-safety practices across selected THR units.

• Strengthen compliance with recipe SOPs and address recurring implementation gaps.

• Review consumer/product feedback and identify opportunities for further improvement of the market-viable recipe.

• Support continued high-risk audit preparedness and technical follow-up.

• Strengthen technical training/mentoring on food safety, nutrition and SOP implementation.

• Document key technical lessons and good practices.

• Submit consolidated monthly technical report.
8 Month 8

Apr 2027

 • Conduct comprehensive technical review of NFSA 2023-complied and market-viable recipe

implementation.

• Assess SOP adherence and remaining technical, nutrition and food-safety gaps.

• Review high-risk audit progress and consolidate outstanding observations and corrective actions.

• Refine recommendations on market viability, consumer acceptability, pricing and market strategy based on available evidence.

• Develop recommendations for institutionalization and scale-up.

• Prepare technical inputs for programme reviews, presentations and knowledge products.

• Submit monthly report and consolidated technical findings.
9 Month 9

May 2027

 • Conduct final technical review of recipe formulation, SOP implementation, nutrition, food safety and high-risk audit support.

• Prepare consolidated technical report covering both recipe/product development streams.

• Document consumer testing findings, pricing/costing inputs, market strategy recommendations, technical learning and good practices.

• Consolidate recommendations for sustaining food-safety, nutrition and recipe-quality systems across 204 THR units.

• Finalize and hand over SOPs, technical guidance, checklists and agreed knowledge products.

• Provide final technical recommendations for product development, market orientation and scale-up.

• Submit Final Consultancy Report and all agreed technical deliverables.

Application Closure Date- 07th October 2026

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