18 May Bite and Enjoy: Food with a Conscience

With the increasing rate at which fast food ventures are growing, the diets of consumers continue to change towards a more unhealthy dietary lifestyle. One solution to this is BAE, which provides healthy food on the go. Bite And Enjoy.

AVI fellow Angela Boahene is the founder of the organic recycle company BAE foods. Using produce from local farms (acquired at subsidized rates due to bulk purchases), BAE provides healthy food (both sweet and savoury) to consumers and then uses those proceeds to feed vulnerable children (aged 7 – 17) through partnerships with NGOs and farmers. The venture hopes to make Africa an eco-friendly continent that manages food waste efficiently in all stages of food production.

BAE absorbs about 70% of the cost involved in feeding vulnerable children within NGOs. In feeding 100 children for 5 cedi per head, profit per annum comes up to 6,000 cedis from a single NGO. Actual food waste submitted to compost can earn at most 10+ cedis per ton which generates another source of income to B.A.E with at least 480 cedis profit per year.

A Geography and Zoology graduate, Adrian Watson, Angela’s “diligent” mentor (as part of the AVI’s mentorship programme) is a serial entrepreneur, the founder of JEEAN and Honai Beez Apiary. He has been working in the field of natural resources management focusing on youth and community development for 10 years and has experience in project proposal, business plan writing, organizational strategic planning development and problem-solving ideation processing. 

A main focus of Adrian’s  during his daily coaching sessions with Angela is to ensure that she is always adequately documenting her work to the best of her ability.  

Adrian’s motivation to sign up as an AVI mentor this year was mainly due to his positive experience mentoring Jennipher Alista Panashe of the AVI’s 2019 cohort last year, which turned out to be a successful partnership despite the fact that she was based in Ghana and he, in Jamaica. The mentor strongly believed that “the AVI programme had the resources needed to help” his “mentee with what was needed to get her start-up off the ground” and so felt optimistic about mentoring another AVI fellow in this year’s cohort.

“Both the mentees I have interacted with since starting as a mentor were able to work independently without having to be pushed” and they are great at taking “advice”. 

Angela expressed that her collaboration with Adrian “has  been helpful and has improved” her “ability to process research results for implementation”. In addition she praised the AVI, deeming the programme “invaluable” and a “great journey.”