Jam n Juice

I am appliying for the Elevate prize because I want to become an entrepreneur with a difference. The prize will be a big push to help give me and my grandmother enough managerial and financial ability to create our comapany which is based in making juice and jam of good quality. 

Right now I'm being  managed by a business incubator called  "ID5" by the group The Land in Rennes, France. Winning the price would be a great continuation to get all I need to make a positive impact through our business.

If I win the price, the prize will be used as follows:

-  To get continued management to give the best service possible. The price will be of high support for the construction and viability of the project.

- The Elevate prize would help us get started by having the funds to enlarge and put the juice company into place with all the needed tools and materials.

- Use this platform to create national and international awareness on the importance of healthy products and local employment for african countries.

In the long run we want to improve education, promote local consumption through our healty products.

From a young age I had good feedback from people on the juice I made from fruit. However, It wasn't until I joined business school that I was able to gather all the useful tools needed to start a business like this. 

I have always wanted to create a sustainable structure accessible to all with great local products in Gambia. I convinced my grandmother to join me in the journey because she knows a lot about jams, she has been making them for as long as I can remember. The managament of the company is going to be 100% female.

The idea is to create a structure with local products  having in mind René Dubos famous saying « act local, think global»

We want our clients to understand the importance of family through our savoir-faire, juggling our intergenerational skills by making juice and jam. 

Our prime goal is to help local residents to value our rich fruits.

By creating a business through local products we will be responding to a demand concerning employment, especially for young people. The rate of youth unemployment in Gambia has grown increasingly. We want young people to feel less the need to migrate. 

Through a business like Jam n Juice, our main worries are to tackle youth unemployment, increase health and well-being through our products. 

In addition to this, our company is planned to be built on very solid values with an ESG ( environnemental, social, governance) twist to it.

We would like to work with local farmers, but also, after the first years, pay a certain percentage of our turnover to an association or cause to contribute to education, development and better living conditions for Gambians. If all goes well, we want to make a wider partnership with farmers in rural areas with the aim of engaging as many residents as possible. Finally, through our products ( different flavours of juice and jam) it is important to us to respect the natural state of the products, using no chemicals in the manufacture, using jars and bottles made of glass or paper or reusable plastic. To emphasize our anti-waste policy, a reduction is planned for people bringing back empty bottles, to encourage them to re-use. 

Respecting the environment and enhancing good working conditions are an important part of our company, with a respectable economic model based of human values.

In the Gambia, most of the jam and juice sales are made in supermarkets and most of its products are exported. 

On the other hand, mostly markets and outlets sell fruits and vegetables in their pure state. In the majority of cases, people use these products more at home  or to offer them (whic was the case for my grandmother). There are some traders who sell fruity drinks in the streets added with other things (sandwiches, donuts, etc.), therefore, there are very few shops making jams as a business.

And that is were Jam n Juice's innovative vision comes in. «Jam n Juice» which will be specialized in fruit processing on a larger scale and accessible to all people thus facilitating local consumption

In order to strengthen the social ties that are very important in our society, we have planned to make several discovery workshops in the year to discover our flavors accompanying them with appetizers, to motivate the exchanges between people.

The company hasn't been created yet. Right now we're in the phase of pre-création. However, everything elaborated in our business plan aims to bring a positive impact in Gambia, which starts with increasing employment especially for youths and women. But also encourage sharing and conviviality through a concept juice bar in the center of town in order to strengthen the social ties that are very important in our society.

The next step after starting the juice bar and factory is to extend our partnership to local agriculturers in rural areas so we can buy quality fruits from them. A partnership is also planned for schools where we'll sell our products and meet young people willing to get started in entrepreneurship. 

We would equally like to plan workshops, sensitising about work chances in west-african countries and all the opportunities we could create for ourselves.

The forth step is to give a part of our benefits to help promote education, well-being and eradicate poverty in our community. 

The last step after five years is to take the business international by importing our products through fair trade to other countries in west Africa and worldwide.