Douglas Draffan

"Even Douglas Draffan was caught up in the purges. He was forced away from his life’s work and moved back to the United Kingdom. Instead, a Kenyan took over as CEO of the cooperative. Erik Torudd became worried since he was uncertain whether the new, poorly educated CEO would manage the job and therefore moved Tetra Pak’s service manager in Japan, Torbjörn Nilsson, to Kenya. His only task was to oversee the cooperative’s facilities to ensure that paper and spare parts were ordered on time. The system with Nilsson as the “supervisor” worked excellently."

"The sales successes soon forced even the large farmers’ dairies to cooperate with Kenya Cooperative Creameries. What particularly influenced them was that Douglas Draffan, with the support of Tetra Pak, had managed to convince the colonial administration of the positive effects on public health that would be achieved if mandatory school milk was introduced. When it was decided that the school milk could only be served in tetra packs, it effectively meant that dairies without the tetra method were excluded from competing for the orders. In other words, the large farmers no longer had a choice. If they wanted to be on the market, they simply had to open the door for cooperation with the previously so despised cooperative dairy."

"Douglas Draffan had a few years earlier built up Kenya Cooperative Creameries. The initiative for the cooperative dairy had been taken by the British colonial administration. The background was that highlands’ British-born large farmers dominated the dairies. They effectively prevented Kenyan smaller farms from using them. The governor and his administration realized the problem and wanted the small Kenyan villages to have the opportunity to compete for the milk and thus get a chance to strengthen their economy. Therefore, they launched Kenya Cooperative Creameries with the Briton Draffan as CEO."

"Torudd thought a lot about how the knots could be untied, which was necessary since it was not possible to terminate the contract with Åkerhielm. But he saw no viable solution until he accidentally found out that Uno Åkerhielm was a horse racing judge and Douglas Draffan was very interested in horses. By discreetly bringing them together at the racetrack in Nairobi, he managed to break the ice somewhat. They gradually became more acquainted with each other through their shared interest in horses. In the end, the resistance was completely broken and they could begin to collaborate with each other."