Pelican News Blue Skies Newsletter | May 2021 | Issue 176 | www.blueskies.com |
Introducing our new Blueprint for the future
Our Blueprint Goals 1. ZERO POVERTY We will benefit communities and give people the opportunity to reach their potential
Blue Skies today launches its 2020 Blueprint Report called ‘Here for Good’’. The report highlights the progress we have made towards balancing the needs of people, planet and profit and unveils the next phase of our sustainability strategy.
2. ZERO BIODIVERSITY LOSS
We will protect natural habitats and create opportunities for nature and wildlife to thrive
There have been some fantastic achievements across the group during what has been a very challenging year, however as we emerge from the pandemic and face heightened global challenges, we have been compelled to update our Blueprint plan so that it is bigger and bolder than ever before.
3. ZERO WASTE We will ensure nothing is wasted and whatever is left is either reused or recycled
This is why are unveiling our Blueprint Vision for a world with zero poverty, zero biodiversity loss, zero waste and net zero emissions. This is in line with our aim of enabling thriving communities, living in harmony with nature while conserving our resources and protecting the climate. Our plan includes some ambitious targets including eliminating food waste by 2030, ensuring all our packaging is 100% recyclable and from at least 50% recycled content by 2025 and sourcing 35% of our energy from renewable sources by 2030.
4. NET ZERO EMISSIONS
We will reduce our impact on the climate and follow a path that leads us towards net zero emissions
You can download the full report from our Blueprint page at: www.blueskies.com/blueprint
INSIDE THIS MONTH: P2
Reggie Yates visits Blue Skies Ghana
P3
An update on some of our Health and Wellbeing initiatives
Reggie Yates visits Blue Skies Ghana
The Audit Report It’s been another bumper couple of months for audits. Recent successes included GlobalGAP audits for our key partner Copano Si and our Blue Skies Cote d’Ivoire operation. Blue Skies assistance and support was much more direct this year with a stronger involvement to also give first time success for a customer audit. Big thanks and well done to Gloria, Mark and our Copano Si partner Bema for all their hard work and efforts to pass these audits whilst flat out busy packing large volumes of mango! There were also successes for Egypt with successful Fairtrade and ISO 45001 results and Ghana who passed their GlobalGap audit with flying colours.
Actor, television presenter, radio DJ and now Blue Skies business partner, Reggie Yates, travelled to Ghana this month to discover the story behind our ‘oh so creamy’ dairy free ice-cream. Reggie ventured from ‘tree to tub’ to meet our team of fresh fruit specialists and find out how our icecream is helping rural communities in Ghana. A big thank you to everyone involved in organising this visit. Over a tight schedule, Reggie was able to visit coconut farms and Foundation projects, tour our factory sites and join in with some intense keep-fit sessions! Look out for some of the amazing social media and marketing content that will come out of the visit soon.
Coupon promo drives ice cream sales in USA Blue Skies wins Best Fruit Drink
Tubs of Blue Skies ice-cream are taking over the shelves of this store in the USA. Ian Plumbley is our man in the USA, and he’s doing a great job at securing new listings and incentivising sales with money off coupons to get more Blue Skies into the mouths of the American people.
Congratulations to Blue Skies Ghana on picking up yet another award at the Ghana Beverage Awards. This year, Blue Skies won best Fruit Drink. Other winners included Storm Energy Drink and Coca Cola. Blue Skies Juice is also nominated for Product of the Year at the 2021 Ghana Manufacturing Awards.
Health and Wellbeing Ghana celebrate World Day for Safety and Health
Blue Skies Ghana celebrated World Day for Safety and Health with a morning aerobics exercise (pictured) under the theme of “Anticipate, Prepare and Respond to Crises”. To mark the occasion, the safety team also embarked on safety talks with staff throughout the day. Ghana also carried out a malaria awareness campaign in April and have this month been educating staff on hypertension as part of their Heart Health drive.
THE PANDEMIC
One year on...
It’s been just over a year since Pelican News reported on how each of our sites were managing with COVID in their countries. So a year later, what’s the situation, and how are they doing? This month, we look at Brazil and Egypt... In Brazil, case rates are still very high and the vaccination programme has been slower than hoped. Hospitals have struggled to cope with many exceeding capacity. Airfreight restrictions have hit the business hard and this has led to a period where the factory has been unable to supply. In the meantime, many measures have been introduced in the factory, including temperature checks, mandatory face masks, hand sanitation stations (see pictured below), and staggered lunch breaks to enable social distancing. In Egypt, new measures have recently been announced by the government to prevent cases from rising. Large gatherings have been banned and an evening curfew introduced for shops and restaurants. Egypt has also introduced mandatory face marks, hand sanitation stations and social distancing where possible.
Ergonomic mats added to occupational gym in Brazil Last month we reported on the return of occupational gymnastics in Brazil which has helped to almost eliminate reported aches and pains caused by repetitive activities. This month the team in Brazil have gone a step further by introducing ergonomic mats to provide greater comfort for people working in the factory (pictured left)
Pictured: Milena de Sant’Ana Romano, Quality Supervisor at Blue Skies Brazil is the first employee to receive a vaccine as she is in the essential qualifications category defined by the government.
FOUNDATION FOCUS
An update on our latest projects
Foundation projects built in record time
All our 2021 projects in Ghana are nearly complete. In just a little over four months, projects including the construction of teacher’s accommodation, a new toilet block for a school and the completion of a training centre for people with disabilities, have been built. Our projects in Senegal, South Africa, Egypt and Brazil will commence over the next few weeks.
Delivering high service levels in tough times
Blue Skies received a big compliment from Albert Heijn for our exceptional efforts to keep deliveries at such a high level. During our monthly consultation about service level and delivered freshness, the Dutch Operations team was commended on their commitment. The transparent collaboration is bearing fruit. We are getting a little better with each day. For the coming period, omnichannel thinking is increasingly central to our planning. This means that we will plan even more precisely based on separate sales figures from Albert Heijn Netherlands, Albert Heijn Belgium and Albert Heijn Online.
Blue Skies staff set off on 8,000km walk Putting leftover support of TreeAid fruit to good use Paul van Breukelen
People at Blue Skies have been taking part in the 8,000km ‘Great Green Walk’ in support of Tree Aid. The challenge involves everyone each day logging the distance they have walked, run, swam or cycled with the aim of collectively travelling 8,000km (the width of Africa’s Great Green Wall) in eight weeks! At the time of writing, staff had collectively managed over 1,500 km in just five days, with the furthest distance achieved by the Blue Skies Pitsford, with Blue Skies Ghana in second place. You can follow the team’s progress at www.blueskies.com/results You can sponsor Team Blue Skies to raise money for Tree Aid at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/blueskiesgreatgreenwalk
Blue Skies in France have supported the Blueprint ‘Zero Waste’ and ‘Zero Poverty’ goals together by giving away leftover stock to ‘Les Restos du Coeur’, a charity that redistributes food to the homeless and people on a low income. This is an excellent initiative which not only helps vulnerable people but also helps Blue Skies work towards its target of zero food waste by 2030.
Meet Lucinda Hills from Blue Skies SA
This month, we introduce Lucinda Hills from Blue South Africa. Lucinda joined Blue Skies this year and was also recently married - on the 2nd of May. Congratulations to the newly weds. We wish you all the best together.
My name is Lucinda Hills, I’ve been working in the Health and Safety industry for over 5 years. I started out working as a general worker in the construction industry, and there I was exposed to safety. I grew to understand the concept of being part of a group of people whose main purpose was to ensure the health and safety of employees at the workplace. I then became part of that team as a health and safety administrator and I loved the job and the challenges that came with it. I did my Samtrac and worked as a Safety Officer for the past 5 years before I started at Blue Skies Fresh Produce. Since I started on the 1st of March 2021at Blue Skies I have been accepted as part of the family and I have found my home here. I am hoping to be able to ensure the health and safety of all employees at Blue Skies for as long as I can.
Celebrating the life of Daniel Safo
Blue Skies was saddened to learn of the passing of Daniel Safo in Ghana recently. Daniel was an erstwhile shareholder, former director and always good friend of Blue Skies. He played a huge part in helping Blue Skies get started in 1997. Daniel continued an active life well in to his senior years, perhaps unsurprising given his love for farming, business and the many opportunities he took advantage of. Daniel Safo will be very much missed but will be remembered for the vital role he played in the development of agriculture and helping to put Ghana on the map as an important producer of pineapple.
Happy Birthday!
How is it like to work for the company? Working for this company for the past two months is like I have found my place in the universe. Everybody here is so kind and caring about one another like a well oiled machine. The employees at Blue Skies are working together like one big happy family, and I would love to be part of that team for as long as I can. By Lucinda Hills, Blue Skies South Africa
Egypt juice team celebrate Iftar together A very Happy Birthday to Emily Addo Boateng and Perpetual Ofasi from Blue Skies Ghana who both celebrate their 50th birthdays this month! Many happy returns to everyone who has celebrated a birthday recently.
NEXT MONTH: More exciting news on our brand Pictured: the team at Blue Skies Egypt juice come together for a Ramadam Iftar after work.
An update on our Foundation projects
Pelican News Blue Skies Newsletter | March 2021 | Issue 175 | www.blueskies.com |
A fresh new look and flavour for our Ice-Cream
Blue Skies have launched a new look for its fresh coconut milk dairy-free icecream range as the brand looks to expand distribution in time for what it hopes will be a glorious summer of sunshine! The new look features a cleaner, modern design with an iconic blue lid and eye catching typography.
In addition, the brand has launched a new flavour to add more variety to its vibrant range, available at selected branches of Waitrose & Partners. Caffe Latte is a blend of our award winning creamy coconut milk ice-cream, to create a taste that is out of this world. It joins our other flavours including Mango and Passion Fruit, Chocolate and Orange, Simply Coconut, Vanilla Bean, Salted Caramel and Strawberry and Banana. Blue Skies Ice Cream is available to buy in retailers in the UK, Ghana, South Africa and the USA. Go to www.blueskies.com to find out more.
Making History
On the 26th February 1998 Blue Skies delivered its first ever consignment of fresh-from-harvest prepared fruit from its factory in Ghana to the UK. At the time, no one knew if the idea of making the finished products in the countries where the fruit grew would work, and very few people were willing to take bets on it. But one person knew he could make it work and was prepared to take the necessary risks to start a way of doing business that many thought was impossible. Fast forward 23 years, and Blue Skies employs over 5,000 people in over 10 countries at its peak and supplies retailers all over the world. And who was that person who knew it would succeed? It was Anthony Pile, the Founder of Blue Skies - and he can be seen in the photo above sitting by a container filled with one of our first ever consignments of fresh-cut fruit!
INSIDE THIS MONTH: P2
Janet Lutterodt wins business excellence award
P4
2021 Foundation projects get off to a flying start in Ghana
Janet wins Business Excellence Award
Very many congratulations to our General Manager in Ghana, Janet Lutterodt, who has been given a Business Executive Excellence Award (https://ghiceoawards.com) for the excellent implementation of Good Corporate Governance practice in Blue Skies. This is a wonderful achievement and is testament to Janet’s inspiring leadership and incredible commitment to operating a business that is a force for good.
Air France make flying visit to Benin factory
CLL cargo team mark the start of new partnership
Pictured: the team at CLL Cargo Logistics, our new handling agent at Charles de Gaulle airport in France, recently came together to officially launch the start of the new business with Blue Skies. As we reported in February, CLL started working with Blue Skies in February from a new facility in Paris, and together with our French team they have overseen a seamless transition, ensuring products arriving at Charles de Gaulle make it to our customers throughout France.
Blue Skies showcased by PwC Campaign
Blue Skies has been featured by a new campaign from PwC aimed at highlighting British businesses at their best. Whether it’s surviving against the odds, going the extra mile for people and communities, or building back greener and stronger, Business at its Best is an initiative to share the best stories from businesses of all sizes across the UK. Find out more at: www.linkedin.com/company/business-at-its-best
A team from Air France KLM recently paid a visit to Blue Skies Benin to discuss flight schedules for the summer. With more flights anticipated in May, this is a good news for Benin as the business seeks to increase its presence in the French market. Pictured with the Blue Skies team are Antoine Tanappa (Regional Director) and Sowah Okpoti (Regional Commercial manager) from Air France / KLM.
OHS: Occupational gymnastics restarts at Blue Skies Brazil
After a one year break due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, occupational gymnastics have returned to Brazil with keep-fit and exercise sessions being carried out for staff in all areas of the factory. The photos below show staff participating in routines in the workshop, intake and high-care areas of the factory. As reported in 2018, occupational gymnastics can help to reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. It can also help to decrease stress levels and tension. This might help to explain why Blue Skies Brazil has one of the lowest injury frequency rates in the group!
Brian prepares to abseil for kids charity Brian Perkins from the Pitsford office has signed up to take part in a charity fund raising abseil from Wells Cathedral in September this year. Wells Cathedral was built in 1176 and has a central tower which is 180ft high. Brian is planning to abseil down the tower to raise money for the SOS Africa Children’s Charity. If you want to sponsor Brian, you can do so by clicking the link below and selecting Brian’s name. Good luck Brian! https://tinyurl.com/jzamyeps
Another AA BRC score for Ghana
Congratulations to Blue Skies Ghana on achieving yet another outstanding AA result at its recent BRC audit. The result follows similar results at Benin and Egypt in February. Well done to all the team involved in this outstanding result.
FOUNDATION FOCUS Schools raise An update on our latest projects
2021 Projects in Ghana get off to a flying start
the bar in 2021 School Farm Competition
Our 2021 Foundation projects in Ghana have got off to a flying start with almost all projects well ahead of schedule. These include a new accommodation block for teachers at a Basic School in the rural of Tikobo (pictured above left) and a new ‘biotoilet’ for a Junior High School (pictured above right). Other projects making good progress include a new washroom for a girls boarding school and the completion of a training centre for the physically challenged.
2021
Brazil reduces waste to landfill by 90%
Blue Skies Brazil have got the ‘race to zero waste’ off to a great start by managing to reduce waste to landfill by a whopping 90% in February! The reduction comes after the team in Brazil partnered with a local business to be able to turn fruit waste in to compost, as we are also doing in Ghana and Benin. Schools participating in the 2021 School Farm of the Year Competition in Ghana have started establishing their farms and germinating their crops. Over sixty schools are taking part in this year’s competition and already there are strong signs that this year will be as competitive as ever, with schools adopting newer and more innovative techniques and finding more interesting locations to start their farms, including one school which has established its farm on the roof of a classroom (pictured above)!
Pelican News Blue Skies Newsletter | February 2021 | Issue 174 | www.blueskies.com |
Blue Skies signs up to Terra Carta
Blue Skies have signed up to support the Terra Carta from HRH The Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Markets Initiative.
The Terra Carta provides a roadmap to 2030 for businesses to move towards an ambitious and sustainable future; one that will harness the power of Nature combined with the transformative power, innovation and resources of the private sector. The global business proposition outlines ten areas for action and comprises of nearly 100 actions for business as the basis of a recovery plan that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation. For Blue Skies, the Terra Carta is in line with the company’s Blueprint sustainability plan and helps to reinforce the company’s commitment to balancing the needs of people with the needs of nature and planet. You can find out more at: https://www.sustainable-markets.org/terra-carta
Blue Skies mourns the loss of two more of its staff Following the tragic news of the death of two of our staff in January, it is with yet further great sadness that we report the loss of two more of our friends and colleagues in Ghana this month. Yakubu Haruna and Abubakari Yakubu worked at our X Ray mango farm. Tragically, they were both caught up in an armed robbery at a petrol station while they were off duty. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of Yakubu and Abubakari. They will both be very much missed by us all at Blue Skies.
INSIDE THIS MONTH: P2
Benin achieves AA result in its first BRC audit
P3
Blue Skies launches prepared vegetables in France
It’s a BRC bonanza!
Blue Skies Benin achieves AA result in first BRC audit
Logistics Update
Congratulations to Blue Skies Benin who have achieved a AA BRC audit result. This was the first BRC audit for Blue Skies Benin almost a year after the factory opened in 2020. The result demonstrates the high technical standards that the young team in Benin are already working to despite the challenges they have faced, including being mothballed for several months due to COVID restrictions on flights. Thanks to everyone involved, especially Elisee and Andyl and the Ghana technical team who provided exceptional support.
Blue Skies have appointed a new handling agent in France to support distribution of our products to the French market. CLL took over handling from a new facility in February and together with our team in France, led by Henri Glaizot, have ensured a seamless transition so that our customers could continue being supplied without any hitches.
Pictured Left: The Benin technical team of Hospice Tossou, Elinam Atigan, Ferdinand Hinson, Sabine Ableto, Ida Gbodonou and Gloria Djigla-Toyi. Pictured right: the Benin agronomy team of Charles Sinhou, Medrid Laly and Ambroise Akakpo.
Carbon neutral coconut delivery
Egypt adds to BRC success with zero non conformances
Congratulations to the team at Blue Skies Egypt for achieving zero non conformances during their recent 3 day BRC audit. Pictured from left to right are Mohamed El-Sayed, Hadeer Mohamed, Ahmed Nabil, Mohamed Gamel, Hussein El-Shinnawy and Moaz Ahmed.
Pictured: why go by truck when you can go by canoe? Ambroise, one of our agronomists in Benin is pictured with a consignment of ‘canoe-freighted’ coconuts which the team are trialling. Many thanks to Metolo Foyet of Blue Skies Benin for the photograph.
For the love of veg Going above and beyond
Congratulations to Kirsty Haynes and Katherine Wilson from the Pitsford office who have both recently received well deserved promotions. Kirsty (pictured left) has been promoted to the position of New Product Developer and Katherine (pictured right) is promoted to the position of buyer.
Blue Skies have launched a new range of prepared vegetables with Carrefour in France. The range includes green beans and snap peas and is available under the Blue Skies brand.
Egypt Juice approved to supply top hotels
Blue Skies Juice in Egypt have successfully passed a number of audits to enable them supply the Dusit and Hilton hotel chains in Egypt. They also passed an inspection by the Egyptian national food safety authority with zero non conformances. Pictured above from left to right are Tamer Elewea, Tarek Ahmed, Mohamed Shereen, Ekramy Kamal, Amin, Huda Sayed, Sameh Maher, Rafik Zaher and Mohamed Mosaad.
Blue Skies Birthdays
February is always a very special month for Blue Skies as the 26th of February 1998 marks the day when Blue Skies despatched its first ever consignment of fruit from Ghana to the UK. It is also the month that Andyl and DK from Blue Skies Benin and Ruth celebrate their birthdays. Andyl is pictured above cutting into what looks like a very delicious birthday cake. Happy birthday to Andyl, DK and Ruth, and happy birthday to Blue Skies!
2021
Small tweaks sees major improvements to effluent
FOUNDATION FOCUS Foundation projects started in Ghana
Work has started on our 2021 Foundation projects in Ghana. Due to COVID-19 restrictions a smaller than usual ground breaking ceremony was held at one of the project sites (pictured) to signal the commencement of all our 2021 projects. All our approved 2021 projects are shown in the table below.
Blue Skies Brazil have recently made a series of tweaks to their effluent system which have resulted in significant improvements to water quality. Through the use of aluminium polychloride and chlorine dioxide they have been able to reduce Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) to less than 35 mg/litre. Well done to the team on taking the initiative. Pictured above from left to right are Flademir,Fernando and Andrea.
1
2021 School Farm Competition
Ghana
2
Kpong Tech Vocational Institute
Ghana
3
Tikobo Teacher Accommodation
Ghana
Blue Skies joins calls to protect Atewa forest
4
Future for Disability Project
Ghana
5
Diapspora Girls School Water Project
Ghana
6
Adafour Water Project
Ghana
7
Chinto Bio Toilet
Ghana
8
Notto Secondary School Computer Classroom
Senegal
9
Laptops for Adult Education
South Africa
Blue Skies has added its voice to the growing list of companies that are publicly opposing a bauxite mining project at Atewa Forest in Ghana. Located 95 km north-east of the capital Accra, the forest reserve, covers 725 km2 and is home to more than 1,000 species of plants, 230 species of birds, 570 species of butterflies and more than 50 species of mammals, most of which are endangered. This includes the white-naped mangabey; the critically endangered Togo slippery frog, and the critically endangered Afia Birago puddle frog, which was discovered in 2017. Campaigners have warned that bauxite mining at Atewa would threaten species with global extinction, undermining the Convention on Biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals, both of which set clear targets to stop extinctions. Companies including BMW and Tetrapack and the Hollywood actor Leonardo Dicaprio have all recently spoken out against the mining project and campaigned for the protection of Atewa Forest. Blue Skies also calls on the Government of Ghana and all stakeholders to cease all bauxite mining activity at Atewa Forest. With global biodiversity declining at an alarming rate, threatening over one million species with extinction within decades, it is crucial we act immediately to ensure that habitats are protected, restored and created and never lost. At a time when our planet faces such unprecedented threats, it is inconceivable that we are even contemplating putting at risk areas as biologically diverse as Atewa Forest.
10 Gym for Blue Skies Egypt
Egypt
Maria Mãe do Divino 11 Instituto Amo water project
Brazil
This month also saw the start of teacher training workshops for our School Farm Competition in Ghana Two socially distanced workshops took place, one in Somanya and one in Koforidua. The training marks the commencement of the practical element of this annual competition.
Pelican News Blue Skies Newsletter | January 2021 | Issue 173 | www.blueskies.com |
The time to take action is now!
The dawn of a New Year offers hope for a brighter future, but there are still immense challenges that lie ahead. With global threats such as climate change and unprecedented biodiversity loss setting alarm bells ringing in every corner of the planet, there has never been a greater need for every person, every business and every nation to take action. 2021promises to be a year of progress. It is a year when we hope to see vaccines finally enable humanity to get on top of the Coronavirus pandemic, and it is a year when COP26 in Glasgow is set to offer the final chance for countries to take firm and decisive action to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. And it’s a big year for Blue Skies too. With the exciting prospect of new products, new customers, new markets and new innovations, there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic. But among the optimism, we must also feel a heightened sense of responsibility. Responsibility for our climate, responsibility for our resources responsibility for our nature and wildlife and responsibility for each other. With our Blueprint, we will set out how we intend to take action to help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our world, and we will report on some of the exciting ideas and initiatives we are planning and are already implementing across the business, such as in Benin where we have introduced new technologies that are reducing chemical use, plastics and energy consumption. There are tough times ahead but if we all pull together, then we can make a difference, and create the kind of future we can all look forward to. Happy New Year!
Blue Skies mourns the sad loss of two colleagues in Ghana It is with great sadness that we report the loss of two of our colleagues in Ghana this month. Charles Ankomah (pictured right) worked in our security team. He was 48 years of age and leaves behind a wife and a child. In the same month, we have also lost Eugene Amadi (pictured left) who was the farm manager at X Ray Farm. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of Charles and Eugene who will both be very much missed by us all at Blue Skies.
INSIDE THIS MONTH:
Pictured: Our ground-breaking new factory in Benin
P2
Blue Skies UK make progress in reducing food waste
P3
Project in Brazil brings joy to centre for abandoned children
2021
Brazil achieve AA BRC success
Blue Skies UK passes FEMAS audit in drive to reduce food waste.
Congratulations to Blue Skies UK who recently passed a FEMAS audit. Achieving FEMAS (Feed Materials Assurance Scheme) will allow the factory to supply its leftover organic materials (e.g. fruit pips and skins) for processing in to animal feed, rather than being sent for disposal via anaerobic digestion. This will reduce food waste by ensuring all usable material is fully utilised and will also substantially reduce the cost of waste removal. This achievement is credit to the highly skilled team at Corby who the auditor praised for their excellent preparation. Well done everyone!
Blue Skies Brazil was recently audited against the BRC standard under Milena Romano’s leadership, our Technical Supervisor, who is pictured with her team. It was Milena’s first audit since she joined the business at the end of 2019 and she and her team did a great job, maintaining the AA score in our BRC certificate and only 2 minor non-conformances. Well done Milena and team!
Blue Skies juice launches with Emissions calculator will Sofitel in Egypt show the way to net zero Blue Skies have worked with the Carbon Trust to develop a new emissions calculator that will enable the business to work out its footprint across the supply chain. The calculator enables each site to enter data on material use, energy consumption, waste and transport each year in order to calculate emissions and identify where the biggest ‘hotspots’ are. The data will enable Blue Skies to develop an emissions reduction plan and a roadmap towards achieving ‘Net Zero’ emissions over time. The first report using the calculator is expected to be generated in April this year.
Blue Skies Egypt Juice have recently launched with Sofitel. Sofitel are part of the Accor Hotel Group and have a number of luxury hotels in Egypt. The team also recently passed their FSSC22000 food safety management system audit, further demonstrating the company’s high standards.
FOUNDATION FOCUS
An update on our latest projects
School Farm awards and the need for ICT resources in Ghana
Over the stretch of time, the Blue Skies School Farm Award has consistently encouraged agricultural business among students in participating schools from across the country, while concurrently promoting technological development and improving ICT education in both Junior and Senior High Schools. In today’s world of internet, creativity and innovation, equipping the young generation with basic computer skills is a national asset necessary for them to compete in a fast developing world. To be able to make more impact in agriculture, we acknowledge that the new agribusiness manager needs knowledge on high technology in order to conquer the world of complex drone technologies, satellites, smart greenhouse management as well as to take advantage of business opportunities on the World Wide Web (www). This is why it was refreshing to see winners of the Blue Skies School Farm Awards walk away again this year with laptops, tablets and desktops to enable them to solve challenges such as a lack of computers and overcrowding of ICT centres in schools. Though the School Farm Award continues to benefit schools, teachers and individual students in their process of learning, accessing the internet and administrative works, these various successes do not come without challenges. Irene, one of this year’s Blue Skies School Farm Award winners will be using a laptop for the first time and needs special assistance from both teachers and parents, but tells us of her school’s inability to provide ICT teachers. Mr Mensah, also a teacher from Kwakyekrom Junior High Schools who won the best teacher award in the Junior High School category last year, noted that his laptop aids his studies at the University however his school is unable to safeguard the computers won over the years as they do not have an ICT centre. Sadly, this and many serve as barriers to the holistic effort to make an impact in society. For us to achieve SDG 6 of ensuring inclusive and equitable education for all, government and stakeholders need to prioritise education and afford schools with the necessary facilities, particularly computer laps. To encourage ICT, the government should provide free internet and laptops for both tertiary and pre-tertiary teachers. ICT clubs could also be made mandatory for Junior and Senior High Schools in order to involve students, build their skills and develop their interest in the subject. Other stakeholders and NGO’s can complement government’s efforts by providing community ICT centres close to all community libraries and organise workshops for students at all levels. In order to see the full effects of these strategies, there should be an effort to introduce ICT education to Ghanaian students at the earliest stage possible. By Winnie A Dogbe, Blue Skies Ghana
Project brings joy to centre for abandoned children
Our first Foundation project in Brazil has been to provide furniture and equipment and to repair recreational facilities for a charity called ABRAC that looks after local abandoned children. The project was completed in 2020 and is already having an impact, especially the playground (pictured) which is proving to be popular with the children.
Sports help to raise morale in South Africa
Pictured: The Blue Skies South Africa netball and soccer teams have been keeping up with matches to stay fit and healthy and raise spirits.
Greetings from Benin Congratulations This month, Group Technical Manager, Stephan Morris shares some photos from his recent visit to Benin to support the team at our newest factory as they prepare for a forthcoming technical audit.
Congratulations to Diederick and Tatsiana on the birth of Oscar Olijye who was born on the 15th of January 2021 weighing 3 kilos. We wish mummy, daddy and baby Oscar lots of love and happiness.
Pictured: Elinam is from Togo and has worked with the technical department in Ghana for about a year. She is now in Benin helping the team to develop product specifications for our customers in France.
Pictured: Hitherto, Marta believed Dorothy Land to be a fictional element in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and is delighted to see myth become reality.
Blue Skies UK welcomes new winter recruit
Pictured: staff at Corby reveal the new head of traffic management, who they managed to construct out of snow after a day of wintry showers. Unfortunately the new recruit didn’t last long having melted after just a few days.
Name that bird. Can you identify this bird, spotted on a pineapple farm in Ghana?