ColaLife

Over the Christmas break we met up with Simon and Jane Berry, the inspiring creators of ColaLife (one of the charities we are fundraising for), who were over in the UK for a few weeks.  Simon and Jane had dog walking needs, so we spent a pleasant morning tramping through the mud to a nearby pub whilst they filled us in on the detail of the initiative. 

ColaLife, so called because of the original innovation, utilising Coca-Cola’s distribution network to take life giving rehydration salts to rural communities, is currently in a pilot stage.  They have set up in two districts in Zambia (Katete and Kalomo, both of which we will pass through on our ride) and are looking to gather evidence on the use of market forces to distribute medicines.

The stark disparity between a rural shop and the
supply room in the local medical centre next door

The stark facts that motivated Simon and Jane are powerful. Did you know that globally, diarrhoea is the second biggest killer of children under five, behind only pneumonia, but ahead of Malaria, HIV and measles combined?  Being able to supply mothers with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and Zinc makes these deaths preventable; however traveling to health centres in not an easy task in rural communities and once there, there is no guarantee that they will have the necessary medicines.

Observing the contrast between the packed shelves of the local retailers and the empty shelves of the health centres, the seed of an idea was sown.  Why is it that Coca-Cola is available in all rural communities, but rehydration salts are not?  Coca-Cola works by creating a product pull at a consumer level; individual shopkeepers then source the product to meet that demand.  What ColaLife seeks to do, is enable their product (the AidPod – complete with ORS, Zinc and soap) to be pulled through the same network.  Key to this is a standard profit margin for the supply chain, incentivising them to get product to the end user.  Crucially pricing is calculated by understanding what the end user can and will pay and the profit margin required by the individual retailers.  The basic principle of market driven supply and demand should therefore ensure that local sellers are stocked with the AidPod.

So, having made the relatively simple link between the supply chain and the distribution of life giving meds, you think the innovation is apparent, but the more we spoke to Simon and Jane, the more we were overwhelmed by the actual innovations that have taken place.  The 8 ORS sachets (manufactured in Zambia – a first) contain the correct amount of powder for 200ml of fluids (also a first) thus providing a single helping for the child, rather than salts for a litre as provided by the clinic.  But crucially, the pod which carries the salts and Zinc acts as a reusable beaker for the child and is itself exactly 200ml, so that the measure can be carried out correctly and provide a mixture of the correct concentration.  It is really these elements that mean that this product is absolutely tailored to the needs of Zambian mothers.

It was nice to understand more about the great work that Simon and Jane are doing and brought us a step closer to the communities that we will be passing through on our journey, as well as the issues they are facing.  With only two weeks to go, it has made us all the more excited to get started!!!

For more detail, have a look at Simon’s blog: http://www.colalife.org/blog/

Simon & Jane Berry with one
of the ColaLife AidPods