Sitting down for a fancy lunch at day one of the Montreal Millennium Summit, I was surprised to see a dozen or so bottles of mango juice on the table. They looked out of place next to pressed white tablecloths, polished cutlery, fresh bread in cane baskets and an assortment of wine glasses.
 But, the mango juice was by far and away the most interesting item on the table. Bearing the ‘Haiti Hope’ label, 100% of the profits from the sale of the drink were going to rebuilding efforts in Haiti.
Nice piece of corporate philanthropy I thought. And, nice tasting juice – which gives me hope it will sell.
But, on reading the leaflet left on the table, and hearing the speakers over lunch, including the mayor of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital that was flattened in the January earthquake, I realised that there’s a lot more to it than just corporate philanthropy.
Typically, the response of companies to natural disasters is to write a big cheque, and if they’ve got a presence in the area, make a commitment to look after staff or the local community.
But here, the Coca-Cola company, who own the Haiti Hope brand and who have 850 staff working in Haiti through their local bottling operations, have done much more. They’ve instigated a $7.5m, 5-year project to develop Haiti’s mango industry. Coca-Cola have put up $3.5m, and the IDB (part of the World Bank) another $3m – a real investment in the future of Haiti’s recovery.
The mango juice on the table – that’s all about creating demand for Haiti’s mangoes. According to Technoserve, the amazing business development organisation who are assisting in the program’s design, less than 5% of Haiti’s mangoes are currently exported. Even accounting for the many mangoes that are consumed locally, there are still at least 20% of mangoes that go to waste, simply because there’s no way to get them to market, or sell them once they’re there.
As I listened to the Mayor of Port-au-Prince talk about the challenges his city and country faced in rebuilding, I was reminded that if Haiti is to really prosper, it needs business investment and the development of local enterprises that can create jobs and opportunity. It’s about supporting Haiti to rebuild its economy as much as its buildings – which is why it was so refreshing and exciting to see a project like this starting so quickly after the disaster.
And, with really specific aims – like doubling the income of the 25,000 involved farmers – the project has a clear idea of the sort of Haiti it wants to create. It’s too early to say if it will work, the earthquake having been only three months ago, but if the taste of the drink, the level of investment and the commitment of those involved is anything to go by, it’s got every chance of success.
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