FIG. 01 — LOU KROMAH
Impact technologist · Head of Product, Journey Foods
I build technology for better food systems.
Charlotte, NC 35.2271° N / 80.8431° WBong County, Liberia 6.8296° N / 9.3672° W
Journey Foods helps CPG brands find, vet, and source ingredients globally. I lead product, and right now that means driving Data API adoption through community led growth. Fewer dashboards, more people actually using the data.
Rooted builds verified market access between West African farmers and global food manufacturers. Verification is the bottleneck: prove what a farm grows and how, and the farmer captures more of the value they create.
A photo series documenting the West African farmers this work is for.
I’ve spent 10 years building software, including ML infrastructure at Twitter. Along the way I taught AR, ran a studio, and built community around creative technology. All of it now points at one thing: helping emerging market farmers capture more of the value they create.
My grandfather built a 200 acre farm in Bong County, Liberia, from nothing. Decades before anyone advised him to, he secured legal deeds to the land. When civil war came, the farm was looted. The deeds held. The land is still ours. For the past year I’ve been recording oral histories with my aunts and uncles so that story doesn’t fade.
The farm taught me that whoever controls verification controls value. I build that verification layer now.