Blue Skies has been awarded a grant from the UK government to develop a new African-branded premium fruit juice for export to the UK.
The grant will help Blue Skies to trial a new technology to extend the shelf life of its freshly harvested juice while maintaining its award-winning flavour.
Blue Skies chairman Anthony Pile said: “This grant will enable us to continue making value-added products in Ghana rather than doing as other European manufacturers do, which is to take African raw materials and add value elsewhere. We believe we have a unique product, made in Ghana, which can be a market leader and demonstrate to the world that Ghana is a serious commercial partner.”
The grant from the Department for International Development (DFID) is part of an initiative to stimulate trade from Africa to the UK, called the Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund (FRICH). FRICH will invest 50 per cent of the funds needed for Blue Skies to develop and market its product.
“Africa desperately needs trade, not just through niche markets such as Fairtrade and Organic, but through serious commercial partnerships as is being encouraged through FRICH,” Pile added.
“In 1997, against the odds and without any investment from banks, we turned a plot of land with no electricity and water into a company now employing more than 1,000 people, responsible for nearly one per cent of Ghana’s exports and turning over more than £17 million per year. If anyone can make this project happen and do it for Ghana, it is Blue Skies.”
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