Anthony Pile is the Founder and Chairman of Blue Skies, a leading manufacturer of fresh-cut fruit, freshly squeezed juice, and dairy-free ice-cream, with eleven operations in seven countries, including Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. Blue Skies supplies leading retailers around the world, including Waitrose and Sainsbury’s in the UK, Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, and Carrefour in France.
The company is built on the principle of value-adding at source. This means that Blue Skies aims to make the finished product in the countries where the fruit grows, rather than exporting only the raw material and processing it elsewhere. By doing this it believes that 75% of the value of the finished product remains in the country of origin, as opposed to only 15% if processed overseas. This approach also enables the business to deliver a better quality fruit that is delivered ‘fresh from harvest, from farm to store within as little as 36 hours.
Anthony was a soldier in the British Army for 13 years and saw active service in the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Cyprus. He has been a magistrate, attended the postgraduate Sloan Fellowship Programme at the London Business School and was the Managing Director of Orchard House Foods from 1989 to 1996. In 1997 he founded Blue Skies in Ghana and has grown the company over the last 20 years into a company employing over 6,000 people with a turnover of £100m.
