I stumbled across this video presentation today on the Coca-Cola MDC system. I was hoping to participate in this Webinar organised by the Business Call to Action on 13/1/11 but had a clash in my diary. I hadn’t realised it had been made available on YouTube. The presentation is delivered by Adrian Ristow who was [...]
ColaLife, MDCs and Coca-Cola’s Manual Distribution System
15 August 2009 by 7 Comments
This is an assessment of where we have got to in our relationship with Coca-Cola, our understanding of the different mechanisms by which Coca-Cola is distributed in developing countries and the implications for the roll-out of the ColaLife idea. Although the progress we have made is significant, it is evident that we still have a [...]
ColaLife gets mention in HARVARD report
17 May 2009 by 6 Comments
Last week the HARVARD Kennedy School and the IFC published their report into the research into Coca-Cola’s Manual Distribution System undertaken in East Africa in the summer of 2008. We reported on this here. The report can be downloaded here: harvard-ifc-mdc-summary-report-final (PDF, 2.3 MB). The good news is that ColaLife is mentioned: In November 2008, [...]
From Communication & Learning to Collaboration – we can do it!
12 January 2009 by 1 Comment
I feel that we are at a crucial stage of the ColaLife Campaign where our relationship with Coca-Cola needs to change slightly but in a significant way. As I am thinking this, Erik Charas makes the above post to the ColaLife Facebook Group (thanks Erik). We have developed a really strong relationship with Coca-Cola which [...]
Summary of information gained from visits to MDCs on 27/11/08 and 28/11/08
30 November 2008 by 2 Comments
On 27/11/08 I was lucky enough to be able to accompany Benito Xaverly, one of Coca-Cola Kwanza’s Area Sales Managers as he visited 7 of the 17 MDCs he looks after. The main purpose of the visits was to agree the month’s sales targets and discuss any issues the MDCs may have. However, I took [...]
ColaLife Pods – what the frontline thinks
27 November 2008 by 20 Comments
I have written so much about what has happened over the last two days but I have not quite finished or publshed anything yet (it will come). But the video below sums it all up. The context is as follows. Today I went out with Benito Xaverly, one of the Area Sales Manager for Dar [...]
Tanzania Diary – Day 1 – 25/11/08
25 November 2008 by 2 Comments
Children at Rene MDC, Dar Es Salaam >>more photos Well, where do I start? I’ve learnt so much in such a short time. Here is a brief run-down of the day. It’s a bit ‘notey’ but I need to get some sleeeep! The programme for the day was an introductory talk which I missed as [...]
More ideas for the pilot phase
12 October 2008 by Leave a Comment
Adrian Ristow writes: During my time in New York in September I took advantage of the influx of leaders from the development community to meet with a few potential partners and advisors for the MDC project. There are lots of ways to use this growing network of Manual Distribution Centres. As well as piloting the [...]
Is Business the answer?
5 October 2008 by Leave a Comment
Adrian Ristow writes: Having spent some time in New York recently at the UN’s End Poverty event, and being a bit of a philosopher, I am going to take the liberty of sharing a few general personal thoughts… I know that some people get a bit skeptical that weeks such as these involve a lot [...]
Sustainability: building a system with people not for people
5 September 2008 by 1 Comment
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. [...]
