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Pelican News

Blue Skies has been named Social Enterprise of the Year in the Private Business Awards. The award was presented by the BBC Broadcaster Naga Munchetty to Blue Skies Account Manager Ally Fyvie and Technical Manager Stephan Morris during a gala dinner at the Guildhall in London. The Private Business Awards, sponsored by PwC and in association with HSBC Private Bank is now in its third successful year. The awards are positioned to recognise success and achievement within the vast number of private businesses in the UK, and are presented to the UK’s most successful private companies, entrepreneurs and management teams. Blue Skies is recognised for its Joint Effort Enterprise model which believes that a company works best if it is inclusive, socially equal and profitable.

Pictured: Naga Munchetty, presenter of the awards, Charlie Hoffman, Managing Director, HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd.; Ally Fyvie, Account Manager, Blue Skies Holdings Ltd, (winner), Stephan Morris, Group Technical Manager, Blue Skies Holdings (winner); John McMullan, CEO, Bryson Charitable Group, and Ruby Parmar, Partner, PwC, Head of Private Business.

Sadly we lost Sara Brookes in September after a brave fight against cancer. Sara was one of the toughest and bravest souls I have ever known. A woman of remarkable strength and determination she managed to combine the responsibility of providing an income for her

family with being an active and perfect mother to her three boys, Michael, Andrew and Oliver. Her husband John lost a good job some years ago and applied his skills to the daily domestic tasks while Sara worked frequently deep into the night to attend to the huge workload she processed each day. She was the toughest of tough nuts. She saw off breast cancer even though the experience altered her appearance. She shrugged off the legacy of chemotherapy and a barrage of drugs and insisted on working at her extraordinary rate throughout. And then came this attack. Almost a surprise attack. Certainly a sudden one just last week. She turned to face it calling for her computer so that she could keep us and our cash management straight, but it hit her terribly hard and we lost her on Sunday 29th of September. Sara was our first accountant and worked in 1998 in the tiny room at the Manor House where we started the business doing everything that had to be done from an accounting point of view. She sat on our Executive and provided us with the feedback we needed to get our fledgling business underway. And so it was for years until we moved into bigger offices in Pitsford and broadened our team of accountants around her. She was always calm. Never raised her voice. Never lost her temper, could never be rushed and had an infuriating habit of being right and very accurate. Now she has gone and our thoughts turn first to her young family and John. They will be devastated. And we shall feel sorry for ourselves having lost a very beautiful, kind-hearted and hardworking member of our family who never left the Blue Skies’ engine room.

Anthony Pile

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Four people from Albert Heijn came to visit Blue Skies Ghana this month to see how we do things and discuss how we can increase sales. Erik-Jan Mares (Senior Vice President Ahold European Sourcing), Dries Bögels (Vice President Merchandising Perishables) Said Belhassan (Category Director AGF & Panklaar) and Gé Happe (European Sourcing Director) are pictured below with Anthony Pile, Paul Van Breukelen and Simon Derrick from Blue Skies. During the visit the team toured our factory and compost site and went to see nearby farms and Foundation projects. Thanks to Albert Heijn for coming to see us.

Pictured: Said Belhassan and Gé Happe shake hands and make up after competing against each other in a close fought pineapple planting race!

Blue Skies Brazil celebrated its 6th Anniversary this month with lots of cake! Pioneers from 2007 are pictured cutting the cake. Thanks to HR Manager Adalgisa Villar for the photo.

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Blue Skies Account Manager, Henri Glaizot is pictured with Mr Vital of our logistics partner Cavalier International. They are pictured by a cobranded truck which has recently been decorated with the Cavalier and Blue Skies logos. Mr Vital says "Already its six years that we grow up together. Beyond a simple commercial relationship, it's a real partnership which we have developed” ---------------------------------------------

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Five people from Blue Skies Ghana and a mango farmer went to the Netherlands this month to visit Albert Heijn stores, find out about the history of the company and meet the key people of this famous European retailer. Reginald Ashietey, Ebenezer Incoom, Daniel Nkansah, Joan Ofori, and Gifty Nkansah of Blue Skies and Joseph Odzeyem of Dormehsco Farms, a supplier to Blue Skies, spent three days in the Netherlands during which they visited several Albert Heijn stores, participated in a conference at the company’s headquarters in Zaandam, and toured some of the sights in Amsterdam.

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Congratulations to Suzy Goddard from the UK office who successfully completed her 26.2 mile ‘Shine Walk’ for Cancer Research UK on the 28th of September. Suzy started the walk at 9pm and finished at 6:15 the next morning (9 hours, 30 minutes). Suzy and her walking team managed to raise a total of £837 for charity which exceeds her initial target of £500. Well done Suzy!

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Congratulations to Dorothy Duodu, our agronomist in Ghana responsible for biodiversity and compost, who recently gave birth to a baby boy – just one day after her twin sister Doris gave birth to a baby girl! Dorothy and Doris both live together with their families in the same house. Both families have now produced three children at the same time! Extraordinarily both Dorothy and Doris’s new arrivals initially had exactly the same estimated arrival dates. Dorothy is pictured in the left and Doris on the right, with Victoria in the centre.

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Congratulations to Blue Skies Ghana and Egypt on successful audits this month. In Ghana the auditor congratulated the team on a well implemented system for working to the BRC and IFS standards. In Egypt the factory received zero non conformances for ISO22000 (food safety) and OHSAS18001 (Health and Safety). The auditor is pictured with the team below. ---------------------------------------------

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Blue Skies Ghana recently participated in another cooperate run which was organised by Japan Motors Ghana and eTV. The 10Km run saw Blue Skies Staff Agnes Bayor winning as the first female to finish the race amongst over 400 participants. About 25 staff from Blue Skies participated in the run and also won 1st runner up in the dancing competition. By Alistair Djimatey

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Fires can be very dangerous and you should always be certain that you will not endanger yourself or others when attempting to put out a fire. For this reason, when a fire is discovered:

Assist any person in immediate danger to safety, if it can be accomplished without risk to you.

Activate the building fire alarm system or notify the fire department by dialling the emergency services (or designating someone else to notify them for you).

Only after having done these two things, if the fire is small, you may attempt to use an extinguisher to put it out.

However, before attempting to extinguish the fire, keep these rules in mind: NEVER ATTEMPT TO EXTINGUISH A FIRE IF:

You don't know what is burning. If you don't know what is burning, you don't know what type of extinguisher to use. Even if you have an ABC extinguisher, there may be something in the fire which is going to explode or produce highly toxic smoke. Chances are, you will know what's burning, or at least have a pretty good idea, but if you don't, let the fire department handle it.

The fire is spreading rapidly beyond the spot where it started. The time to use an extinguisher is in the incipient, or beginning, stages of a fire. If the fire is already spreading quickly, it is best to simply evacuate the building, closing doors and windows behind you as you leave.

You don't have adequate or appropriate equipment. If you don't have the correct type or large enough extinguisher, it is best not to try to fight the fire.

You might inhale toxic smoke. If the fire is producing large amounts of smoke that you would have to breathe in order to fight it, it is best not to try. Any sort of combustion will produce some amount of carbon monoxide, but when synthetic materials such as the nylon in carpeting or foam padding in a sofa burn, they can produce highly toxic gases such as hydrogen cyanide, acrolein, and ammonia in addition to carbon monoxide. These gases can be fatal in very small amounts.

Your instincts tell you not to. If you are uncomfortable with the situation for any reason, just let the fire department do their job.

The final rule is to always position yourself with an exit or means of escape at your back before you attempt to use an extinguisher to put out a fire. In case the extinguisher malfunctions, or something unexpected happens, you need to be able to get out quickly, and you don't want to become trapped. Just remember; always keep an exit at your back. By the Blue Skies Ghana Health and Safety Team ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gloria is pictured by her office

A view of the factory and canteen

The Blue Skies Senegal team

Blue Skies Senegal Manager Gloria Asare, has gone to extraordinary lengths to bring our Senegelse packhouse to life and has ambitious plans for the future. The packhouse was built in 2010 to supply Ghana with mango between July and September. Gloria built the packhouse from scratch and has gradually developed additional facilities including a canteen, laundry and a small high care facility for processing fruit and juices. Gloria started working for Blue Skies in 1998 as a Secretary in Ghana. Since then she has worked her way up in the company. Prior to setting up Senegal, Gloria was working in procurement and would travel all over West Africa including Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast and the Gambia looking for fruit. Gloria’s hopes for the future are to build Blue Skies Senegal in to a year round producer of value-added products to local and export markets.

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Foundation Focus

A project to construct a three classroom block and office for a primary school in Ghana has been officially opened.

The project was opened during a visit by Albert Heijn in September this year and was attended by local dignitaries including the Chief and his Elders and the local MP, Frank Annoh-Domprehm, the Head Mistress of the School Rebecca Shiakor and the Municipal Director of Education for the Ghana Education Service Jane Sabina Obeng. It was also attended by representatives of Blue Skies including Anthony Pile, Paul van Breukelen, Foundation manager Alistair Djimatey and Chief Agronomist Ernest Abloh. In attendance from Albert Heijn was Erik-Jan Mares, Bögels, Said Belhassan and Gé Happe.

The new classrooms and offices are fully furnished and will make a tremendous difference to the school as it will increase its capacity and improve the learning environment for the teachers and students who were previously accommodated in run-down buildings. These have now also been renovated and a perimeter wall constructed to prevent vehicles from passing through the school grounds.

Above: The community celebrates the opening of their new classroom block

A number of projects to provide educational and recreational resources to schools in South Africa have been completed. Projects included the construction of a playground at Tegwan’s Nest Primary School and the provision of educational resources and IT equipment for Bright Spark Academy. The Foundation also wishes many congratulations to our project officer and HR manager in South Africa, Waydu Matlala, on the birth of a baby girl in May.

Above: the playground equipment at Tegwans Nest

Above: Educational resources at Bright Spark Academy.

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From April Pelican News.

A project to provide a KVIP for a rural village in Ghana was opened during a visit by Albert Heijn franchisees in April this year. Over seventy Albert Heijn franchisees and the Albert Heijn Board, as well as representatives of Blue Skies and the local community, descended on the village of Nsakye to witness the grand opening ceremony. The ceremony featured speeches by local dignitaries and an impressive display of drumming, before the KVIP was formally opened by the Queen Mother and Sander van der Laan, CEO of Albert Heijn. This was followed by a lively session of drumming and dancing by the whole community and their special guests.

Above: The KVIP is opened by the village Queen Mother and the CEO of Albert Heijn

Above: The new KVIP at Nsakye

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The Amerdi Water project in Krabo-Kesse has been commissioned by the Blue Skies Ghana GM, Ruth Adjei. The community was ecstatic and thanked the partners for the gesture. The chief indicated that he will personally ensure the project is maintained because their several appeal to NGOs, government and other stakeholders for support for a borehole yielded no results until the Foundation came to their aid with two nice boreholes. He said this is historic and will remain a so for generations to come. Report by Alistair Djimatey. --------------------------------------------

A warm welcome to Abena Asomaning-Antwi who has joined the Blue Skies Foundation. Abena comes to the Foundation with a strong background in management consultancy combined with an interest in farming, and experience of running an NGO ‘The Angel Zoe Foundation’. Abena’s impressive background will be a real asset to the Foundation and help us to continue in the right direction. --------------------------------------------

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A project to provide a six seater KVIP for the papaya farming community of Yaw Krow has been completed. This project was officially handed over to the community on the 15th of August 2013 during a short ceremony by the Blue Skies Ghana General Manager Ruth Adjei. As the first of its kind in the community, it was with great excitement for the chiefs and the people of Yawkrow. Foundation Manager Alistair Djimatey encouraged the community to support the committee, collect the levies and open accounts for the project so they can keep their funds collected and use it for the development of the area. The Chief of the area, Odikro Mensah, on behalf of the people thanked Blue Skies and the partners for this unprecedented support. He said they value it so much because it is the first ever support they have received from any organisation. Mr Ohene Boakye also known as ‘Bestman’, a Papaya Farmer who lives in the areas, thanked the Foundation and assured it will be taken very good care to ensure sustainability. The general manager in commissioning the project asked the leadership of the community to encourage hand washing among the people especially the children so that they will grow with it. She said, that this will reduce the occurrence of these communicable diseases like typhoid and cholera Report by Alistair Djimatey.

A project to provide solar lighting kits and energy efficient stoves to communities in Ghana is now underway. The kits have been provided for a number of communities on a trial basis. Recipients are expected to pay back the cost of the kits using money saved on energy costs. Training and monitoring is being provided by Toyola Ghana Ltd. Solar kits have also been provided for some completed Foundation Projects including the Nsawam WC which can be seen in the picture below.

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Harlestone and Brington Primary Schools in the UK are to hold another Foundation Day to enable students to find out about the origins of Blue Skies fruit and learn about some of the impacts they have on communities in Ghana. The day will take place in October. We will feature a full report in November’s edition of Pelican News. ---------------------------------------------

Blue Skies will launch its Get Inspired campaign to inspire the next generation to be the change they want to see in the world in November. Watch this space for more details! --------------------------------------------