by Fernando Lopez FoodBizDaily.com editor
March 16 2010 - The Ubuntu Trading Company is a young beverage business in London that is bringing to the market the first Fairtrade CSD, a cola that uses in its formula Fairtrade sugar from the Kasinthula Cooperative in Malawi and from the Kaleya Cooperative in Zambia and donates at least 15% of their annual profits to the Ubuntu Africa Program.
FoodBizDaily.com spoke with The Ubuntu Trading Company founder and Managing Director Miranda Walker about this innovative business.
What is Ubuntu ?
“Ubuntu” is a word used in Zulu and other Bantu languages which expresses the concept of human interdependence, ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’.
Why "Unbutu" as your brand ?
Our idea was to take the concept of Ubuntu (interdependence) to business, creating a company which recognizes our global interdependence, giving producers, customers and consumers the opportunity to reconcile sustainable development in the world’s poorest continent with the commercial and consumerist imperatives of the world’s modern, developed economies.
We are a small team of people who set out to create a business that would help transform the lives and opportunities available to African producers and their families by building a successful and profitable branded carbonated beverage business, maximising the use of fairly traded ingredients and the value created in Africa.
Why carbonated beverage as the focus of your company ?
CSDs are a great way to add value to sugar – thereby optimizing the Fairtrade license payments and the potential to share profit with producers. There were currently no Fairtrade CSDs available – so there was an opportunity to be first. Market size and salience made a good opportunity to make FT relevant and accessible to young people.
Our first product is Ubuntu Cola available in 330ml can and 500ml PET – initial sales were to the student market through universities, the brand also sells in seven European markets.
Was your management team involved in the beverage business prior to joining Ubuntu ?
One of our non Exec directors Richard Evans has a great deal of beverage experience and was formerly Chief Exec of InBev as well as Chairman of the Portman Group. Our Financial Director , Phil King was formerly Finance Director of Café Direct for 5 years.
Do you see the product as viable for mass distribution or it is supposed to be a specialty item ?
Absolutely viable for mass distribution – that is the whole point – helping make Fairtrade relevant and accessible to the mainstream – but we will always be at the quality end of mainstream, able to compete on product performance with market leaders.
We wanted to help propel Fairtrade consumption from the fringes into the mainstream by entering the iconic cola market with a strongly branded and differentiated product. In so doing, to make Fairtrade highly relevant and accessible to young people. We knew we would need to meet 21st century consumer brand demands – hence the delicious taste (in quantitative blind tests prior to launch 76% respondents said they would buy it in place of their normal cola) and the cool pack (which has already featured in a new packaging design book published last autumn) and the link up with Andy Cato of Groove Armada – UK’s biggest dance band (see his video clip on front page of our website).
http://ubuntu-trading.com/