More than a pipedream

Band together the main actors in the global supply chain for packaged goods and it is possible to begin to reduce child mortality in developing countries.

Simon Berry’s strong belief has convinced a worldwide brand and thousands of individuals that this goal is more than a pipedream. He wants to ‘show by doing’ that commercial and humanitarian activities can share the benefits of working together, and ColaLife is his brainchild.

In June Simon completed a successful 18-month secondment as head of the Third Sector Team in Defra, the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He is sure the experience he has gained building ‘unlikely alliances’ across sectors, stakeholders and disciplines will be vital to ColaLife’s future: “Most real change happens when we learn from other cultures - and that means other sectors too.” Simon is now fund-raising to enable him to work fulltime on the ColaLife campaign.

The idea to use the airspace between Coke bottles in crates for ‘aid pods’ of health-giving medicines has been percolating since he worked in Africa more than 20 years ago.

“It eventually gained traction by stirring grassroots interest via social media, which caught the BBC’s attention and then Coca- Cola’s,” he says.

The ingenuity Simon has brought to ColaLife has inspired some 12,000 supporters globally to follow Simon’s progress via lively social networking sites. The master of web communication was nominated to the New Statesman’s New Media Awards two years running. The UK news magazine made him a finalist in 2007 for involving citizens and stakeholders in shaping tenders for Government services that will affect them.

Notably, Coca-Cola financed Simon’s fact-finding trip to Tanzania in November 2008.

“The next step in the development plan is to run independently evaluated trials to assess potential locations, partners and costs,” he says. Part of ColaLife’s role is to put partnerships together, something Simon has shown he excels at. Because, as he explains: “Big business can’t do things like this alone; it would risk undermining the local public health structure.”

He continues: “The aim is to make it possible for Coca-Cola to engage publicly,” and for this the company needs the support of consumers behind it.

“It requires a commercial imperative to get the product to its destination. What can we learn from Coke’s commercial distribution network about traceability and reward to ensure products are delivered?”

To avoid AidPods going astray, the packs need to be uniquely identifiable by a code. Delivery must be recorded by the receiving agent or retailer and paid for by traceable micro-payment so the medicines can reach the poorest people on the continent.

It is important that whoever can guarantee the system will work must be rewarded, Simon says, due to ‘the indigenous desire to make a living’.

The answer lies in mobile phone technology and ColaLife is working with a groundbreaking non-profit, FrontlineSMS, to use text messages to track inventory levels and delivery and payment.

ColaLife claims no exclusivity to introducing a social or sustainable element into a commercial venture with minimum friction and without undermining existing structures. It is blazing a trail that anyone can follow if they see a gap and an opportunity in the packaged goods market, Simon explains.

“In 10 years’ time will it be acceptable for a commercial business to distribute in developing countries for purely commercial purposes?” he wonders.

At minimum expense and hassle, AidPods can be carried with ‘host’ products to bring everyday medical aid, especially to children. Greater pressure on businesses to be aware of the possibility will create unlikely alliances for social good, thinks Simon, and the skills and techniques are there to trigger change.

The ingenuity of ColaLife made it a semifinalist in the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, a US scheme that funds ideas with social goals. Though it did not win, ColaLife has received £15,000 from UnLtdWorld, an agency which supports social entrepreneurs around the world. The sum will help Simon continue to pursue the aims of ColaLife.