Dohmen Company Foundation Announces $60 Million Impact Investment Fund at the White House

Urges others to invest in the healthy food ecosystem

MILWAUKEE, March 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dohmen Company Foundation (DCF) today announced the launch of the Dohmen Impact Investment Fund during a live-streamed event at the White House. The Fund will invest $60 million to accelerate the growth and impact of for-profit social enterprises advancing proven food solutions that improve human health. The White House hosted the event to highlight leading organizations that are actively engaged in the President's bold goal of ending hunger and reducing diet-related diseases by 2030.

"Our nation is sick. The standard American diet and its underlying dependency on processed food is largely to blame," said Rachel Roller, DCF President and CEO. "The DCF Impact Investment Fund seeks to advance a healthier food system through strategic investments in solutions that align with our mission to reverse and prevent diet-related disease."

"We believe that convenient access to healthy food for all Americans is the answer to our nation's greatest public health threat. Food, the very thing that's making us sick, can become our prescription to health.," said Cynthia Dohmen LaConte, DCF Board Chairperson. "Our intention is to make access to healthy, whole food as ubiquitous as today's unhealthy fast food."

The Fund plans to positively impact more than five million consumers over the next 5-10 years by investing in 5 to 10 proven food solutions with established and growing business-to-business and consumer markets. The Fund will intentionally accept lower than average returns on its invested capital in return for investments that can demonstrate a Social Return on Investment or SROI. Financial profits achieved through Impact Fund investments will fuel the foundation's charitable giving activities and public awareness strategies.

Roller participated in a panel discussion during the White House event at which time she urged others to prioritize investments in the healthy food and nutrition ecosystem. "More investment is needed to promote the healthy food industry and make unprocessed, whole foods readily and equitably available. We encourage other foundations, socially conscious businesses, and investors to join us in advancing a healthy eating movement by pursuing a similar self-sustaining investment model with a capital and social return," said Roller.

About the Dohmen Company Foundation

With more than 165 years of healthcare experience, Dohmen has found a way to combine the rigor of business with the heart of philanthropy. After exiting the life sciences in 2018, Dohmen's shareholders donated their shares, converting Dohmen from a multi-generational family-owned business to an organization wholly owned by a private foundation. The Dohmen Company Foundation focuses on creating a social return in pursuit of its vision of life without diet-related disease. The Dohmen Impact Investment Fund will invest $60 million over the next five-ten years to accelerate the growth and impact of for-profit social businesses with proven food solutions that improve human health.  

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SOURCE The Dohmen Company Foundation