When he arrived, he could scarcely believe the sight that greeted him: it drove home the magnitude of the challenge O’Shea had thrown at him at last year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards ceremony.
“It was extraordinary; almost biblical,” he recalls. “More than 5,000 people were queuing patiently for hours for bags of grain.”
O’Shea had used his acceptance speech as winner of the Social Entrepreneur Award 2005 to urge Carey and two other winners, Jerry Kennelly (who subsequently sold photo-graphy archive Stockbyte for $135m in April), and Aidan Heavey (the chief executive of Tullow Oil), to help create sustainable businesses in one of the world’s poorest regions.
The trio accepted and a series of three programmes on the outcome is currently airing on RTE, with Carey’s efforts the subject of a documentary on August 24.
“I had never met John O’Shea and before I went to Malawi I thought him loud, bombastic and his views extreme,” Carey said. “After what I saw, I now believe him to be one of the most reason-able of men. This situation just can’t be allowed to continue and he does fantastic work.”
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Carey won the Ernst & Young award for creating Jacob Fruitfield from two venerable Irish consumer food companies, Jacob’s biscuits and Fruitfield jams.
The journey has reinforced his support for Heart of Africa, the new ethical food brand currently being rolled out in supermarkets and convenience stores across the republic. The brand provides African suppliers with a route to the Irish market and access to Irish companies willing to develop, promote and manage the range of products.
The aim is also to help the African companies to develop the necessary skills to supply their products to other EU countries.
Jacob Fruitfield has taken responsibility for the sales and distribution of the range, which includes tea, coffee, a variety of dried tropical fruits from Uganda and macadamia nuts sourced by Carey in Malawi.
Carey expects turnover of just €150,000 this year but says this figure could be dwarfed if the range wins a foothold in Britain.
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“Our initial targets are modest but even €150,000 should yield around €30,000 profit, which will all go back to the producers,” Carey said. “We have set up a separate company, Traidlinks, with its own directors but our company’s contribution will be sales and distribution, which will be conducted on a stand-alone basis.”
Heart of Africa is the brainchild of a group of prominent Irish businessmen, including Carey, Liam Fitzgerald, the chief executive of United Drug; Jim Corbett, the managing director of Bewley’s and Tony Barry, the managing director of Barry’s Tea.
Carey admits the project has become “a bit of a hobbyhorse” for him, particularly since he visited the country three months ago.
“Malawi has per capita income of $150 (€120) a year, compared with almost $50,000 in Ireland,” he said. “Life expectancy is 35 and most farmers live on half an acre, which they plant with maize to feed themselves.”
Carey has encouraged a number of farmers to plant macadamia nuts around their maize crop. While not a panacea for all ills, he is determined to help get the ball rolling and believes Irish businesses in other sectors could forge similar links.
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“Why limit it to food? This would work just as well in engineering and service industries, for example,” he said. “Companies there need a helping hand and I think there is a tremendous appetite in Irish business to help right now.”
And what about the immediate cash injection? Again, Traidlinks is preparing to help Goal address this. The not-for-profit company is organising a €750-a-head business conference scheduled for early next year in Dublin.
“The conference will not be about Africa, it will be about leadership,” Carey said. “The participants get the best thinkers and some kids in Africa get to eat.”
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Challenge is on RTE1 on Thursday, August 24 at 10.45pm