http://www.bsholdings.comBlue Skies Quality, Fresh-Cut, Prepared Fruit from Africa and South America.http://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=219The August edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website. Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites. To download Pelican News, <a href="http://www.blueskies.com/newsletter/august10.pdf">click here.</a>Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:53:23 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=218The July edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website. Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites. To download Pelican News, <a href="http://www.blueskies.com/newsletter/july10.pdf">click here.</a>Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:59:01 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=217The June edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website. Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites. To download Pelican News, <a href="http://www.blueskies.com/newsletter/june10.pdf">click here.</a>Fri, 2 Jul 2010 09:58:01 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=215Blue Skies will be exhibiting at the Fancy Food Show in the Jacob K Javits Center in New York between the 27th to the 29th of June. Blue Skies can be found in the African Hub at booth 4123 throughout the show.Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:43:59 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=214Blue Skies operations have been tested to the limit over the past few months first by a volcanic ash cloud and now by a British Airways cabin crew strike. During the last week of May Blue Skies received the news that the London to Accra route would be cancelled for ten days therefore creating a huge headache for our operations teams who usually rely on the BA route to transport products in to the UK. The strike was called after a dispute between BA management and the UK trade union 'Unite' about jobs, pay and working conditions. BA cabin crew are reported to be among the best paid in the industry and so there has been little public support for this strike action. Despite the disruption, Blue Skies have worked around the clock to ensure that their customers can continue to be supplied. Lizzie Garnett from the UK operations team said "We are keeping on top of the situation by using capacity with other airlines however it is a huge struggle trying to coordinate the different delivery times, but as with every hurdle that's thrown at us in Blue Skies; I know we'll get through it!"Thu, 3 Jun 2010 12:05:44 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=212The May edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website. Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites. To download Pelican News, <a href="http://www.bsholdings.com/newsletter/may10.pdf">click here.</a>Sun, 30 May 2010 12:42:09 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=213This month we return to our series on pineapple farmers. William Mensah Etteh started pineapple cultivation in 1995 - exactly five years before he completed High School in the year 2000. He is 35 years old and married with two lovely daughters. Mensah was introduced to pineapple farming by his uncle whom he stayed with for about 15 years. He joined our farmer group in 2007 but was merged with two other farmers under the name Amega Farms. He had a little over 4 hectares with a total of 200,000 plants of Smooth Cayenne when he first joined us and started with a weekly supply of between 2000 and 3000 fruits. Through determination and hard work he has established himself independently and is currently operating under the name Life Fruits with a weekly supply of between 4000 - 6000 fruits of both Smooth Cayenne and MD 2. Currently he is planting at a very good rate with about 400,000 plants of smooth Cayenne and 200,000 suckers of MD2.on the ground. He is almost always elated for being with our farmer group and is especially happy with the frequent technical interventions and training offered free of charge to him and his colleagues. He personally thinks this arrangement makes our farmer group one of the most privileged. His 6 bedroom house which had been abandoned for almost a decade was recently roofed and to facilitate his fruit delivery to the factory, Mensah has also acquired a KIA truck. His wish and prayer is for Blue Skies to increase its customer base to enable him and other farmers sustain production to improve their livelihood. By Shakespeare Djokoto, Agronomy Dept Blue Skies - GhanaSun, 30 May 2010 12:34:10 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=211The April edition of the Blue Skies Newsletter 'Pelican News' is now available to download from our website. Pelican News is a monthly newsletter written by our staff, for our staff, about what's happening at each of our sites. To download Pelican News, <a href="http://www.bsholdings.com/newsletter/april10.pdf">click here.</a>Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:29:44 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=210Professor Tim Lang has criticized African exporters like Blue Skies for being dependent on European markets following the recent ash cloud crisis which left producers in Ghana and Kenya unable to supply for six days. Professor Lang has been quoted as saying "There can be a certain naivety among exporters about the benign nature of European and rich country retailers and manufacturers". Simon Derrick from Blue Skies said "I think it's probably the policy advisors who are naïve. Yes, there are examples of supply chains where producers have little or no idea of what happens to their crops. This could indeed be said to be in Professor Lang's words 'neo-colonial' as quite often the raw material will be extracted from the place or origin and then manufactured into high value products in the 'West', however the Blue Skies model is fundamentally different. We process (or manufacture) the product in the country of origin so that around 70% of the finished product remains here compared to as little as 15% if it is processed elsewhere, and we have a close relationship with our suppliers so we know where all our fruit comes from and they know where it ends up. Of course we realise that European retailers hold a lot of power, this is exactly why it's important to build relationships with customers and not to depend on any one retailer or market. To suggest that we might be oblivious to this is frankly insulting!" Professor Lang has argued that assumptions around there being abundant spare land and labour for exports fails to address the issue of under-consumption in Africa. Derrick adds "Professor Lang has missed the point. The problem is that there's actually quite high consumption of imported food in Ghana, some of it from Europe and North America. To us this doesn't make any sense. In fact land is even being destroyed here so that top soil and sand can be illegally extracted and sold at a high price for construction projects in Accra. This is putting the ability of future generations to grow subsistence crops into jeopardy. The question is why on earth is this happening when Ghana is rich in natural resources? The answer we think is because of a lack of a manufacturing base which can generate significant employment and wealth, and this is exactly what we are trying to encourage. All too often 'fair trade' is seen to mean extracting raw materials albeit it at a fair price from the 'developing world' but processed in the 'West'. This actually isn't fair at all, why should Africa just farm while the 'West' makes all the money; doesn't Africa have a right to develop industry too? We want to see manufacturing developed for export to bring in the foreign currency so as to create wealth and employment. This we believe can lead to a growth in industry for the domestic market and less reliance on both exports for economic growth and imports for food. So it's really about creating a balance." Tim Lang is professor of food policy at City University London and an advisor to the UK government. He is also credited for coining the term 'food miles'.Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:18:07 GMThttp://www.bsholdings.com/news.aspx?id=209Blue Skies has restarted production at its factories as airlines operating in and out of Europe resume operations, six days after the eruption of mount Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused much of European airspace to close down. Chairman Anthony Pile said "We have resumed production and are working closely with the airlines to ensure we get back to normal as soon as possible. It's been a very trying to for us and we must sincerely thank all our suppliers, farmers, customers and staff for their resilience, concern and wonderful support. We are now focusing on getting back to 100% supply." Heathrow airport opened at yesterday at 10pm yesterday after the Civil Aviation Authority agreed that all UK airspace could be opened. Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:36:13 GMT