Each year five students are picked from the community to attend the prestigious Adama Boarding School in Ethiopia, and, we are thrilled to share the news that this year: four out of the five students chosen were from the Sher – School, part of our Afriflora business in Ethiopia.

This represents a huge achievement for the school and the team in Ethiopia.

Sher school is located in the Ziway and is open to all employees children as well as to families in the local community. The school has a vision to be one of the highest rated schools in Ethiopia and this achievement is a significant milestone in helping them reach this goal.

A big thank you needs to go to the teachers, managers and support staff at the school, without whom none of this would have been possible. The hard work and commitment these colleagues enhances the lives of their pupils and communities everyday.

Thank you and well done.

Finally, a huge congratulations from all of us in the Flamingo group to Nafira, Fayyisaa, Eebboseen and Yooseef who have been selected.

In July we had the honour of hosting a visit to our Stevenage and Sandy sites with Ken Murphy, Group CEO of Tesco.

During the visit we gave an overview of the Flamingo group business: our history, strategy and CSR activity. We covered the evolution of our relationship across Produce, Flowers and Plants as well as taking the opportunity to present our strategic sourcing and marketing plans for the next 5 years. We used the Stevenage presentation room to mock up Tesco fixtures and show our products and vision for their respective ranges.

We received very positive feedback on both the business and the positive role we play in our communities in Africa as well as being challenged on how we work together to improve our service and our forecast accuracy

As one of the premier retailers in the world, Tesco are a key partner for the Flamingo group and to have been able to host the CEO of the business at two of our sites for the first time is a truly exciting moment for the business and one that we should celebrate together. None of the amazing things we do everyday would be possible without our people and the success of this visit is testament to the hard work and commitment of everyone in the business.

Please check out the video below from the team at Tesco about Ken’s visit:

We have all been experiencing very challenging times, but at Flamingo Group International we have been working hard to do the right things for our people, our customers and communities around the world. We’re proud of our collective efforts to date in helping provide vital food supplies as well as support and flowers during the restrictions of this Covid-19 pandemic.

Here are a few examples of our actions and successes during the lockdown;

• We have implemented strict social distancing measures and improved hygiene procedures across all our global sites to protect and care for our valued workers.
• We have provided all our Kenyan staff with additional masks, with free daily food and salary support for teachers unable to work in our communities.
• We have set up a £100,000 fund in conjunction with Fairtrade and our customers so that we can provide emergency food parcels if life in Kenya is further restricted.
• We were greatly honoured to assist the Kenyan President in delivering a message of hope and support from Kenya to UK NHS workers when we packed and delivered “Flowers of Hope”. This very kind gesture was supported by the British High Commission, The Kenya Flower Council and KEPSA.
• As a result of keeping our facilities operating, Flamingo are currently employing 8,500 Kenyans and supporting & feeding 28,000 people daily (including dependents).
• The UK business has helped provide uninterrupted supplies of vegetables & flowers to the British people.
• We have transformed our UK operation with highly successful direct mail sales of vegetables, flowers and hampers, reflecting the flexibility of our end-to-end business.
• We have donated our excess flowers from Mother’s Day to local church funds raising £1,600 and we have supported local NHS staff with thousands of free flowers.
• In Germany, all the PPE masks issued to staff have been manufactured locally to support businesses and charities in the area.
• In Holland, we gave each member of staff a bouquet of flowers at Easter to say thank you for all their efforts at this challenging time and we have launched a campaign to donate flowers to the elderly in our local area.
• The Dutch operation also agreed a considerable financial contribution to the local government in Ethiopia to assist them through this Covid-19 pandemic.

Kenya Growers Donate Flowers to UK NHS Frontline Health Workers Fighting COVID-19

Nairobi, 30 April 2020

Flowers of Hope – Kenya wants to bring some joy and show solidarity with frontline health workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the launch in Kenya, the initiative has been expanded to the UK where Kenya’s World renowned flowers are a prominent feature on the shelves of all the major supermarkets.

Kenya grows and exports annually over 180,000 tonnes of flowers to international markets, mainly the UK and Europe. This is equivalent to just over 5 billion stems of flowers.

Production is regulated through compliance with the internationally benchmarked Kenya Flower Council Standard to ensure sustainable social, environmental and agricultural practices.

The industry directly employs close to 200,000 people, of whom half are women, and impacts the livelihoods of families and many others employed in the formal and informal business sectors.

The international floriculture industry is a complex and highly integrated supply chain. When the COVID-19 pandemic took a hold in international markets and particularly in Europe, flower shops closed, and restrictions were imposed that resulted in a dramatic fall in the demand for flowers.

In the UK, where Kenyan flowers feature prominently on the shelves of all the major supermarkets, the stores have remained open and our flowers continue to bring hope and brighten the lives and homes of customers in these uncertain times.

Flowers of Hope – Kenya is an initiative of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), of which the Kenya Flower Council is a member, that creates the essential link between the private sector and the Kenya Government.

The initiative appreciates the massive contribution made by front line health workers in fighting the pandemic in hospitals and health facilities in Kenya and in the National Health Service Hospitals in the United Kingdom. The donation is endorsed by HE Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of the Republic of Kenya, who has added his personal message of goodwill on every bouquet, that “we stand together” in fighting the pandemic.

Following the successful launch of Flowers of Hope in Kenya, 200 hundred bouquets designed by Flamingo Horticulture Kenya Ltd with flowers from their Naivasha farms where they were put together by Wilkster and her team of ladies using the special sleeves provided by Elgon Chemicals Ltd.

The bouquets were flown from Nairobi to the UK by Kenya Airways on board a B787 Dreamliner aircraft normally occupied by happy tourists returning from a memorable beach and safari holiday in Kenya but now adapted to carry freight to support Kenyan horticultural export businesses.

On arrival in the UK the bouquets were conditioned at Flamingo Horticulture UK Ltd.’s cold rooms in Sandy, Bedfordshire from where they were delivered by Rhodes Freight Services to six hospitals all dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Great Ormond Street Hospital, London
• Salford Royal Hospital, Northern Care Alliance
• Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Colleagues / Suppliers / Customers,

At Flamingo we make the health and safety and well-being of all our staff worldwide our number one priority. As the global position worsens it is even more critical that we manage and control our environment with our colleagues, to ensure that the communities we serve and work in are protected.

Over the past few weeks we have been working with our Business Continuity Team (BCT) to enhance these controls and we have implemented the following: working from home policies, zone working, split shifts, increased hygiene stations and enhanced clean down procedures in all operational areas.

With all the business continuity plans in place we continue to operate from all our sites across the world. We are monitoring the local government controls in all locations and will endeavour to keep essential channels open to ensure that fresh Produce and Flowers from our farms and partners continue to help feed the nations we supply.

We know these are exceptional times and we have reviewed the situation closely and have taken the decision to continue our current operation:

• Our produce business is critical to the food retail supply chain and is helping to feed the nation in this time of crisis
• Our home delivery flower and plants business are providing our customers with the opportunity to send messages of love and support to isolated members of families and friends, which is critical in these times.
• Our flower, plants and produce companies provide indirect support to approximately 100,000 people across our global supply chain, including to many colleagues in Kenya and South Africa.

In addition to the above we have taken measures to ensure that we safeguard the health and well-being of our colleagues and communities:

• We have moved to a full work from home policy for all staff who can operate as agreed in your business models.
• We are also ensuring that our policy of social distancing is rigorously followed in operational areas and that we maximise distances between operation employees (over and above the 2m recommended distance) and that there is control of people in high people traffic areas. See enhanced procedures below
• We are also engaging with staff to ensure that any employee who is not comfortable with working during this period is given the opportunity to be absent whilst maintaining their employment.

These are unchartered times with very dynamic and rapid changes in all the areas we operate. Our vertically integrated supply chain is very fortunate to be supported by our customers at this time when so many other businesses and supply chains have been forced to close their doors all over the world. We will continue to do all we can to keep our people and communities safe. We have taken the decision above in what we believe to be the wider interests of our staff, customers and communities. We will always operate with the utmost importance placed on the safety and well-being of our people and communities.

Ian Michell
Group Technical Director

 

Enhanced social distancing procedures effective immediately

You must always observe a minimum of 2m distancing, especially while commuting to areas such as
toilets and canteens.

All staff must always remain in their allocated zones.

If using a shared operational computer – sanitize before and after use when changing shifts

All working environments will be set up to create the correct gap between workers on lines.

Please ensure that you distance yourself from your colleagues on clocking in and ensure that you sanitise before and after use.

All working zones must hand sanitize hands on entrance and exits to sites, but also every 45 mins during operational activity.

All staff are advised where possible travel to and from work in groups of a maximum of 2 people per car. You are advised not to use public transport where possible.

All team huddles must be conducted with the appropriate spacing and where suitable outside or well ventilated areas.

All staff are required to only visit smoking areas in smaller groups of maximum 2 at any time, additional zones will be added to manage this.

All breaks to be taken in smaller numbers especially in canteens and everyone must not congregate in groups of more than 2 people and 2m apart.

Please remember we are here to look after and support one another and stop the spread.

18th March 2020

Dear Customer and Suppliers

Coronavirus update

Following the further escalation in the Coronavirus outbreak, our Business Continuity Team (BCT) has reviewed and amended our procedures to take extra precautionary measures to safeguard our employees and communities.

Please see below the measures we are putting in place. As the situation is quite dynamic, we will continue to update you periodically. Our BCT currently meets twice weekly to cover issues across the whole Flamingo and Afriflora Group.

Medical Guidelines

• If you have a fever, cough, or flu like symptoms please self-isolate and contact your local medical service if required. There is now a period of self-isolation for up to 14 days even if a member of the household is unwell. Please do not come to work but advise local HR office who will advise on procedures and return to work policy.

Travel

• There will be a temporary ban on all non-essential international travel.
• Travel within your country is permitted at this stage, but please we advise to reduce non-essential social interactions.
• All customer / supplier and intercompany meetings are to be conducted virtually via MS Teams or Skype, rather than in person.

Visitors

• There will be temporary restrictions on non-essential visitors to our sites. All employees are asked to reconsider any visitors and meetings that are scheduled, with aim to replace with alternative methods such as Skype, MS Teams, VC, Telephone
• All essential visitors will be asked questions relating to their current health and recent travel (in line with the latest government advice). We will do this directly through the visitors’ portal at our UK sites and review procedures at other sites to see how we might incorporate it into our visitor sign-in process.
• We will also be minimising access for all essential visitors where possible i.e. by minimising access to our sites for all external visitors any prohibiting drivers who have visited a high-risk area in the last 14 days from entering site.

Employees – temporary staff

• All employees are asked to inform us if they have travelled to any of the countries currently identified as having Coronavirus outbreaks.
• Anyone returning to work following absence including when returning from holiday, will be asked to complete a Return to Work – Coronavirus declaration form.
• Any new employees will be asked to complete an additional Coronavirus Pre-Employment Medical Declaration.

Site Hygiene

The core advice from both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK government for prevention of the escalation of this virus is still ensuring that you maintain good hygiene standards.

• All sites are to detail the hand washing and hygiene practices that must be adopted (using either national government picture guides or using the materials provided by the NHS in the UK if required). If hand sanitizer availability becomes a restriction additional had wash facilities will be provided on site.
• All European sites will be provided with hand sanitisers for employee’s personal use.
• All sites will aim to establish washing or sanitising at entry points as soon as possible, including:
  • • Four hourly wiping of all communal contact points i.e. door handles, doors, hand swipes, visitor’s portal
    • All clock-in/out machines to have sanitisers located for use prior to clocking-in.
    • Entry points to all buses, packhouses, canteens and toilets.

Site Scenario Planning

The Business Continuity team have now mapped all possible risk-based scenarios to be able to action per site in the event of any outbreaks within our business or local community. This includes critical staff zone working program and a work from home program.

In the event of a forced site closure we would instigate an immediate clean down and where necessary allocate volumes other sites as we are operating on a multi-site structure to cover customer requirements where and if necessary, especially when leading into a high demand period.

Please do note that the situation remains dynamic and as we lead up to this busy period with additional staff, we will be reviewing our business continuity plans routinely. We will keep you and our colleagues informed with any updates.

If you have any questions or require further clarification, then please contact me at ian.michell@flamingo.net or Zeri James (Group HR Director) at zeri.james@flamingo.net.

Ian Michell
Group Technical Director

 

Some pupils at Maua school in Naivasha, Kenya, were so hungry that they’d skip school to search the bushes for wild fruit. Others who didn’t cut class would steal from nearby shops so they’d have something to eat for lunch.

Headteacher Rosalin Wafula was growing concerned with the high levels of truancy and signs of poor concentration in the 850 students she looks after.

“Some children had food; some did not. In a school, we should have equality. But many would feel out of place because they didn’t have anything to eat,” she says.

But thanks to a new scheme that turns surplus food from local packhouses into free meals for children, Wafula has seen a big improvement in attendance and classroom participation.

Stevenage-based Flamingo Produce has been supplying vegetables such as green beans, baby corn and broccoli from Kenya to Tesco in the UK since 1994, and was looking for ways to reduce food waste and benefit the community at the same time.

“In Kenya, we end up with a lot of green beans that are too curly. In the UK, you may have the opportunity to sell them as part of Tesco’s ‘perfectly imperfect’ veg range. But we’re 6,000 miles away and flying such a product is not environmentally, or economically, very wise,” managing director Ian Michell explains.

Flamingo had already taken small steps to tackle food waste, such as no longer trimming green beans before they are transported and sold. But Michell knew more could be done.

Working with Tesco, he came up with the idea of setting up kitchens in the Kenya packhouse to make soup from the leftover vegetables to give to children at lunchtime. The scheme is based on the supermarket’s Community Food Connection programme in the UK, where leftover food from stores is donated to local charities. To date, Tesco has donated more than 150m meals from surplus food to local charities worldwide.

“We’re now feeding 2,000 children a day,” Michell says.

It wasn’t as simple as it sounds, though, recalls HR manager Tabitha Ngaywa. Soup isn’t a particularly common meal in Kenya. She was worried the kids wouldn’t actually want to eat it. Luckily, Flamingo Produce’s canteen manager was able to work with pupils and their parents to create a hot meal that the community could enjoy.

“We don’t really appreciate soup in Kenya. So when the idea came to us it was a little bit difficult for us to imagine how it would be done,” Ngaywa reveals.

Parents, pupils and teachers were brought on board to test the dish. Once feedback was positive, Flamingo Produce went ahead with the pilot in March, recruiting extra staff to help prepare and transport the meals.

 

According to Wafula, Ngaywa needn’t have worried – children often ask for second helpings. She’s seen a great improvement in the quality of their work and attitude in the classroom, too.

“Some of these children might not have had dinner the night before, or a proper breakfast in the morning. Their concentration was very low. But now they are very eager to learn. They are able to stay in class and participate. So they love it.”

The scheme is in place across two schools in Naivasha now, and Flamingo Produce plans to roll it out to the company’s packhouses in Peru, Guatemala and Morocco soon.

“Tesco’s help and funding will allow us to scale this into different regions all over the world. My target is 2m school meals in the year 2020,” says Michell. “We also hope to take a lot more of our products and make them into nutritious meals with long shelf lives. This will help us transport the product anywhere in the world to low-income families.”

As Wafula points out, the promise of a free, nutritious meal each day can have a positive impact on mental wellbeing.

“Every child should have that sense of belonging. And now, everyone feels equal because they all have something to eat.”

Tesco donates surplus food every day to local charities and community groups through its Community Food Connection scheme, in partnership with food redistribution charity FareShare. Find out more about how Tesco is reducing waste from farm to fork

Image and story from The Guardian