Building unlikely alliances to save children's lives
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Onwards and upwards!
Image credit: Tielman Nieuwoudt
Here’s the latest from Adrian Ristow who’s been leading the research into Coca-Cola distribution in east Africa:
A bit of a gap in communication from me – but my August has been a bit different this year; I had to spend some time back in South Africa on some other work. But the MDC (Manual Distribution Centre) research project has been on my mind and I’m as excited as ever about the future – ‘super excited’, as some of my super American friends would say
I’ve spent a lot of time speaking to MDC owners and their staff, as well as with the key sales staff from the local bottling company, to get a deeper understanding of the current reality and future potential. So much so that I’m dreaming Coca-Cola dreams at night and visiting MDCs in my sleep! Maybe that’s not such a bad thing: nothing happens if you don’t have a dream, and my ultimate vision is for this system to spread and grow – beyond what any of us can imagine at present.
A key goal was to understand better the current community benefits of the locally-owned distribution businesses, through the eyes of external researchers. We also wanted to get a clearer understanding of the priority social issues facing MDC owners, their staff and the surrounding communities. This feedback will help us find ways to enhance the community benefit from the MDCs, while importantly not risking the income of the entrepreneurs who earn their livelihoods from these businesses. We’re not looking for a trade-off or a compromise, but a win:win solution that will let the market work for us.
One of my biggest challenges is patience. It would be great to do everything now, but then I am reminded that we are dealing with an extensive network of independently owned small businesses. We want to build a unique and sustainable solution with them not for them, which can take a bit of time.
However, we’ll soon be able to move from the research phase and building the conceptual understanding to some practical on-the-ground testing. Now our team are reviewing and analysing the research data that we collected during July, and we’re aiming to share some key findings towards the end of September. So watch this space!
Image by Gabi~
Adrian writes:
This week has been filled with interesting discussions with more distributors and their employees as we investigate how Coca-Cola can partner better with this group of people in addressing key issues. Having spent some time looking at how things work in Ethiopia, I’m keen to see where there are differences and similarities in the Tanzanian models.
One thing we’ve learnt very quickly is how important ‘local’ is. Each country has its unique elements and this changes slightly the way that products are distributed and the way that their businesses are run. What immediately strikes you are the obvious cultural and political differences between Ethiopia and Tanzania. But many social concerns among the people we meet are very similar – although with varying degrees of severity. The problems people talk about are unemployment, safe drinking water, poor sanitation and education – as well as general poverty-related issues. Once we have completed our data gathering we’ll be doing our utmost to find the right match between a local priority need and a possible way to harness Coca-Cola’s distribution partners for maximum impact, to try to address that particular challenge. The local bottling partner, Coca-Cola Sabco, has real clout; it operates in seven Southern and East African countries – as well as five Asian countries – and employs more than 9500 people in 25 bottling plants. We’re really encouraged that they have been very supportive of the process so far. This is vital as they have the key relationship with the distributors and the local presence to make things happen. Local matters: time spent building relationships and understanding at this stage is going to be the best investment we can make in the change process.
This message comes to us from Adrian in Addis Ababa, where he
recently spent a day meeting some of the independent local distributors
working on the Manual Distribution Centre (MDC) model that Coca-Cola has promoted. Although their main focus for analysis is Tanzania,
they were guided to gather some comparative data from Ethiopia where
the distribution model seems to be working best. Hence Adrian’s trip.
“Mubarek is an MDC owner and his team in Addis Ababa were all
previously unemployed. I met them at their distribution centre and
heard all about their successes, the issues they face and their opinion
on how we could improve their lives and the lives of the communities
they serve. It may come as some surprise that Ethiopia is where this
distribution model was conceptualised: really exciting, as it breaks
some stereotypes about where models usually get developed. Ethiopia is
one of the toughest markets to operate in, but our Ethiopian Coke
Bottler colleagues have shown that it’s possible to rise above the
challenges!
“You get to meet so many interesting people when you are out in these
countries. The harsh realities of what faces people living in areas
decimated by poverty hits you hard. However, I also get so inspired by
the resilience of the people and the lengths that they will go to to
try and better their lives and the lives of their families. I am also
really motivated by the positive intent of most employees at corporates
to play a constructive role. They often just don’t have the necessary
channel to do this and their lives are so busy that they don’t have the
time to create this themselves. That’s why projects like this are
really important.“We know that this system is creating many new entrepreneurs and many
new jobs, but we also feel that there is a lot of untapped potential in
this means of distribution. One of the aspects which I know has created
the interest in Simon’s Facebook group is around how the distribution
system could be used for ‘greater good’. I am discovering that it’s a
bit more complicated than I initially anticipated as we are dealing
with independently-owned businesses. Local needs and conditions vary
quite a lot. However, the ‘in-principle’ commitment and level of
support is fantastic both from the Coca-Cola bottler side and the
entrepreneurs. It will take a bit of time to find a workable model
but we are exploring far and wide, and I’ll bring you more news as
possibilities unfold.”
Last week, we heard from Adrian Ristow, an independent contractor now working
with Coca-cola in Africa, doing some on-the-ground research into what makes local distribution
models work. He’s now going to look at whether there is mileage in our idea to
distribute rehydration salts as part of his work, as the research in the field
gets underway. Here he explains the model that Coca-Cola is interested in, and
how the programme came about.
“Over the last year or so, Coca-Cola became interested in a model for local
distribution based on the work of Coca-Cola Sabco and some other bottlers in Africa. This model is known as the Manual Distribution Centre (MDC) model. Seeing that it had a lot of potential, Coca-Cola wanted to understand how it works, what makes it successful, and what promise it might offer. Our ultimate goal is to build an enhanced and replicable model that supports the commitment to the Business Call to Action.
Big ideas – but it all starts with small steps, some real understanding of what works locally, and lots of involvement from the people that really matter: the local communities, the local businesses, and their customers.We’ve decided to research the model with a specific focus on its socio-economic impact. In other words, what difference is it really making to how people earn and live?
Tanzania was chosen as the research and pilot market, and I’ll be reporting to you from there shortly.
Through the past year we have been collecting information about the Manual Distribution
Centre system’s overall impact as well as focusing on Tanzania specifically. We have just entered into a partnership with the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard (download PDF), as well as with the International Finance Corporation.
This will help us to complete a more structured research process and to bring in an independent perspective. As we speak the core data collection phase is taking place, and I will bring you more stories from the front line as I gain more insights.”
The research into Coca-Cola’s distribution network in Ethopia and Tanzania, first mentioned here, is now underway and Adrian is the man on the ground. Despite the inevitable connectivity issues that we will face, Adrian has undertaken to keep a dialogue going on the work he is doing and the people he meets. This picture was taken on 3/7/08 when Adrian visted Mubarek, a distribution centre owner and his team in Addis Ababa.
This is going to be a fascinating series of reports I think and to kick things off, here is Adrian’s background in his own words:
Let me first give you some personal context. I worked for nine years
for a bottler (Coca-Cola Sabco) where I saw first-hand the reach and
impact of Coca-Cola into the local community. Most of the countries for
which I carried responsibility (Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya,
Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Vietnam)
are emerging markets facing many of the challenges outlined in the
Millenium Development Goals (MDG’s), with poverty right at the
forefront. I reached a stage in my career at the end of last year,
where I really wanted to focus my energy more specifically on the role
that large corporates can play in these types of markets, although I
have a particular affinity for Africa specifically. So I proposed to
make a career change to give me the opportunity to pursue this passion
(as well as some others), which includes some further study in this
area.
At about the same time, The Coca-Cola Company was looking for a
project that not only truly demonstrated their commitment to the
Business Call to Action, but also showed the ways that they were already
committed to making a difference around wealth creation through local
economic empowerment.
As things turned out, their needs and my passion overlapped and together we identified a project focused on an innovative distribution system, called the Manual Distribution Centre (MDC) System, being utilised by Coca-Cola Sabco and some other bottlers in Africa as something to pursue. I was, therefore, appointed as an independent contractor to manage the project from earlier this year.
I will be passing on any comments received here and on the Facebook Group to Adrian.
