Plumpynut, a peanut-based paste, provides children suffering from the most serious form of acute malnutrition with all of the essential nutrients and calories needed to rebuild their strength and restore them to health.

One 3-ounce packet Plumpy'nut delivers 500 Calories per serving.  This product was distributed to an estimated 500,000 children last year - double the number in 2005 and up from just 120,000 in 2004.Plumpy'nut is a thick brown paste made from ground peanuts, sugar, and powdered milk, fortified with vitamins and minerals. Plumpy'nut isn't perishable and travels easily.

The success of therapeutic Ready-to-Use Foods (RUFs) in crisis situations has encouraged the humanitarian community to adapt this tool to the pre-emptive treatment of children threatened by severe acute malnutrition—before they reach the crisis stage.

It is used directly, as is, without prior dilution. This avoids any risk of bacteriological contamination by polluted water.

It is easy to calculate dosage as each sachet contains 500 kcal.
It makes logistics easier with an optimal weight / volume ratio.
It can be eaten by a child on his/her own, without having to be helped by his/her mother or by the staff of the feeding center.

It makes home treatment possible, under the supervision of the feeding center (5)
These characteristics make it possible to decrease management costs, by:
o A decrease in hospital or feeding centers stays
o A decrease in the number of people necessary for the preparation and the distribution of meals.

Nutriset whom offers Plumpynut, reinvests 80 percent of its profit - or about $2.5 million during the past year - into developing new products, and the firm is partnering with entrepreneurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Niger to produce Plumpy'nut locally.