BLUE SKIES WINS FOURTH QUEENS AWARD AND LAUNCHES AMBITIOUS PROJECT TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE FUTURE

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Blue Skies has today been awarded its fourth Queens Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category. 

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise was instituted by Royal Warrant in 1965 and is the highest official UK awards for British businesses. Businesses are awarded in three categories, International Trade, Innovation and Sustainable Development.

Blue Skies has been given a Queens Award this year in recognition of the company’s pioneering sustainability plan, called the ‘Blueprint’. This is a set of commitments for People, Planet and Profit, designed to ensure the business can meet the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The Blueprint is created through the company’s ‘Measure Engage Action’ methodology, which enables the business to operate a cycle of continuous improvement based on being able to understand our impact, define our priorities and quickly implement actions to improve.

Chairman and Founder, Anthony Pile said “The principles of sustainable development are firmly embedded within our business, however we know there are growing issues of interest among our stakeholders, such as plastics, waste, and carbon emissions. Our Blueprint enables us to escalate focus on the most important areas and accelerate ideas and projects that will enable us to lead the way.”

CEO Hugh Pile said “Winning a fourth Queens Award means a huge amount to us and provides great encouragement and motivation for all our people at what is a very difficult time for the business and indeed the world. But it also comes at a very pertinent moment as, not only are we making an incredible effort to address the extraordinary challenges of the present, but we are also embarking on an ambitious new initiative called ‘Project Phoenix’, which will ensure we will be poised to meet the changing needs of our world in the future.”

He added “We’re looking at a whole raft of initiatives, such as sustainable packaging, longer-life products and new technologies that can increase efficiencies across our factories, farms and distribution and reduce our impact on the environment. Getting through the present crisis is our priority right now, but we will keep one eye very carefully on the future. That has always been our approach, and that is why we see a very exciting future for this business.”

ENDS21 APRIL 2020

For more web-based info go to www.blueskies.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

Blue Skies was founded in 1997 by Anthony Pile. Anthony’s vision was to redefine the idea of ‘Freshness’ in the prepared fruit category by harvesting fruit only at its optimal maturity, cutting it as close as possible to the farms, and then delivering the finished product to customers as quickly as possible.  We call this approach Fresh from Harvest and it is this that has enabled Blue Skiesto become synonymous with the very best quality prepared fruit in the marketplace.

Our fresh-cut products include mango, pineapple, pomegranate, coconut, melon and berry mixes. These are prepared into fresh fruit salads for export to over 20 retailers in 11 markets including the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy and Denmark. In addition to our prepared fruit products, we also produce freshly fruit and vegetable juices and dairy-free, vegan ice-cream. These products allow us to make full use of all the fruit and ensure no edible material goes to waste.

INCORPORATING A FAIRER WAY OF TRADING BY ‘ADDING VALUE AT SOURCE’

At the heart of our philosophy is a commitment to ‘adding value at source’. This means that where possible we make the finished product in the country or region where the fruit is grown, rather than doing it in factories overseas. By adding value at source, we believe as much as 70% of the value of the finished product stays within the country of origin, compared to as little as 15% if it is processed outside.  This approach also enables greater skills development and technology transfer and creates more employment opportunities in the countries where our fruit is grown.

FROM A NETWORK OF FRESH FRUIT FACILITIES

Blue Skies operates has ten processing facilities, including three facilities in Ghana, two in South Africa, two in Egypt, one in Brazil, one in the UK and our newest facility in Benin. Collectively we employ almost 4,000 people at our peak, including up to around 3,500 at our busiest periods in Ghana.  Additionally, Blue Skies operates packing facilities in Senegal and Ivory Coast. These facilities pack whole head mango for processing at our facility in Ghana, ensuring we are able to make the most of the West African seasons.

SOURCING FRUIT FROM OVER 200 FARMS

From the beginning Blue Skies has been able to deliver the best quality fresh from harvest fruits, because of our proximity to our farmers. We source fruit from over 200 farms across West Africa, Europe, South Africa and South America. We play an active role in supporting agriculture by helping farmers to overcome technical and commercial barriers in order to access international and local markets.

SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES WITH THE BLUE SKIES FOUNDATION

Blue Skies supports local communities through its Foundation which it runs in partnership with the Waitrose Foundation and the Albert Heijn Foundation. To date the Foundation has collective raised over £1.5m and completed more than 100 community projects across Ghana, South Africa, Senegal and Egypt which have benefited over 100,000 people. Projects have included the construction and renovation of schools, toilets and clinics in remote rural areas where such facilities often don’t even exist. Toilet facilities built by the Foundation have dramatically reduced the occurrence of waterborne diseases including cholera, and classroom blocks have helped to increase attendance and improve examinations results in a number of different schools.

OPERATING TO THE HIGHEST TECHNICAL STANDARDS

We work to the highest technical, social and environmental standards to ensure all our fruit is produced to the highest social, environmental and food safety standards. The standards we work to include GlobalGAP for agronomic practices, BRC for food safety, SMETA (Sedex Methodology Ethical Trade Audit), Fairtrade for ethical compliance, and LEAF for environmental sustainability.

For more information please contact Simon Derrick, on 01604 881230or via at simon.derrick@blueskies.com

For further information please visit our website at www.blueskies.com

By: Radio1News|Ghana