UWEAL SUCCESS STORIES Nakayenga Mints Money from Hibiscus

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1 She just wanted to create a small business that would help her earn an income upon retirement and also create employment for a few close relatives. Today, Ms. Regina Nakayenga is a budding billionaire, having been bitten by the entrepreneur bug that stimulated her zeal, resilience and determination to pursue giant dreams. Her company, Rena Beverage Solutions, is a home-based enterprise that produces a range of beverage products from both the trumpet-shaped hibiscus flower and hibiscus seeds. The products include Rena Hibi Drink, a ready-to-drink nutritional juice, Rena Hibi Concentrate a concentrated juice and Rena Hibi Tea, a soluble powder that may be dissolved in hot or cold water. The firm also produces sweet and dry hibiscus wines. The single mother of five and former entrepreneurship lecturer at Kyambogo University says that putting the theories she always taught her students into practice, has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of her life. While a lecturer, I always felt hypocritical when I taught business skills that I had never actually used and had no real experience with. That challenged me to establish a business, she explains. 1

2 Her entrepreneurial journey Ms. Nakayenga s entrepreneurial journey started in 2009, when she attended a workshop on value addition organised by Kulika Uganda, a Catholic organisation at Mbuya Catholic Church in Kampala. During the workshop, she realized that money could be made from making passion fruit juice and wine. After the training, Ms Nakayenga pursued and seized the opportunity. Using passion fruits from her very own garden in Mityana and an initial investment of just Ushs50,000 used to purchase sugar and plastic jerrycans, Ms. Nakayenga produced her first two litres of passion fruit juice concentrate in her kitchen. She then successfully sold the concentrate to her colleagues at Kyambogo University. After accumulating Ushs500,000 from passion fruit juice sales, Ms. Nakayenga invested the proceeds in the production of 20 litres of pineapple wine. She later expanded her portfolio to include hibiscus products. That decision was primarily driven by the health benefits of the plant. The hibiscus decision set Rena Beverage Solutions on its current path. Hibiscus is rich in vitamin c and health-promoting antioxidants. Research studies show that it decreases blood pressure in people with mildly high blood pressure. There are also indications that it lowers the incidence of hot flashes in peri-menopausal women. These health benefits differentiate hibiscus products from the more widely and commonly available passion fruit and pineapple juices. Production, distribution and sales Rena Beverage Solutions sources the raw materials (hibiscus flowers and seeds) from 200 farmers across eight districts of Uganda - Mukono, Kayunga, Mityana, Kiboga, Apac, Lira, Arua and Masindi districts. While some of the farmer groups have grown hibiscus flowers for several years; others developed an interest in hibiscus farming in response to the invitation and guaranteed market offered by Rena Beverage Solutions. To ensure high quality raw materials, Rena Beverage Solutions invested in the training of a buying agent; who now trains the farmers on how to grow quality hibiscus flowers. The agent also conducts regular field inspection visits in order to constantly monitor the hibiscus gardens, ensure high quality flowers and proper harvesting techniques. From Regina s initial production batches of two litres of passion fruit juice concentrate and a 20 litre jerry-can of pineapple wine, production capacity has increased to: 2

3 280 litres of hibiscus juice a day 144 kilos of hibiscus tea powder a day. The tea is packed in three different size packages 200g, 100g and 50g 500 litres of hibiscus wine a month Factory prices are as follows: bottles 300 ml, Hibiscus Juice (unsweetened) bottles 300 mls, Hibiscus Juice (sweetened) packets 200g, Hibiscus tea packets 100g, Hibiscus Tea packets 50g, Hibiscus Tea Ush12,000 Ush24,000 Ush 10,000 Ush 5,000 Ush 3,000 Products are distributed to various supermarkets and grocery stores across the country. A business that began with just sh50,000, plenty of enthusiasm and dreams of a steady but small retirement income now boasts of over sh20 million worth of working capital. Sales revenues have grown from sh300,000 to a monthly average of sh30 million. UWEAL nurtured my business Ms Nakayenga sings nothing but praises about the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL), which she says has nurtured her entrepreneurial journey. I first encountered UWEAL in 1997 when I was researching on the education needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for my degree in Adult Community Education. 3

4 As I interacted with the women, I realized that they had so many issues that I could not solve. I felt it would be good for them to join an organised group and the most renowned group was UWEAL. I contacted UWEAL and they agreed to offer the women classes in literacy and other skills, Ms Nakayenga who later became a fully registered member in 2005 recollects. The women from the IDPs formed self-help groups and began making paper jewelry. The good quality of the beads and other crafts the women made inspired UWEAL to secure the women s group an opportunity to exhibit in Niger in Ms. Nakayenga, who was the group s connection to UWEAL, accompanied the group to Niger. This gave her exposure to entrepreneurs through networking and she vowed to own a business one day. Ms. Nakayenga recalls that the turning point in her 12-year journey with UWEAL was during a UWEAL Women and Health Breakfast Meeting in Dr. Grace Nambatya, the Director of Research at Natural Chemotherapeutic Research Institute, had been invited to speak to UWEAL members about the unexploited business opportunities for women. After the meeting, I asked Dr. Nambatya whether she could test my hibiscus powder in her laboratory and she answered in the affirmative. The powder was tested and found to include all the nutritional values found in hibiscus. The results gave me the zeal to pursue the instincts that had guided me to include hibiscus products in my line-up. I now knew I had a solid product. I could promote it with confidence, Ms. Nakayenga recalls. More opportunities kept coming her way because of her association with UWEAL. The following year, Ms. Nakayenga was invited to Cairo, Egypt to exhibit her hibiscus products. However, as she prepared for the trip, she learned that without standards certification, she would not be permitted to exhibit in the North African country. This opened her eyes to the need to have her products certified. Visits to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Executive Director Dr. Ben Manyindo and to Uganda Export Promotion Board, yielded the same results. There was not enough time to get the products certified. So although I missed the opportunity, it pushed me to pursue the necessary standards. I now have both the S and Q marks, she says. The S mark is a mandatory minimum product certification scheme for locally manufactured products. The Q mark certifies product quality and grants the manufacturer a permit to affix the UNBS Quality Mark on the product. 4

5 Challenges Low Quality Packaging: One of the biggest challenges, according to Ms. Nakayenga, is the poor quality of packaging material, especially bottles. She says this has prevented the business from exploring regional markets. We have been discouraged from exporting because the available bottles are made from a very soft material. By the time the bottles get to the export market, they could be damaged and we would end up with more damages than sales, she says. Ms. Nakayenga however, notes that plans are underway to invest in a bottle production line which will allow Rena Beverage Solutions to get the right quality of bottles. In that regard, the firm has applied for a matching grant from the Private Sector Foundation Uganda to install a bottle molding machine. Raising Product Awareness: Like other small business owners, Ms. Nakayenga has not found a cost-effective way to promote product awareness and boost consumption. She hopes that UWEAL will design a media platform upon which UWEAL members with certified products are able to advertise their products. 5

6 Imported Products: Additionally, Ms. Nakayenga says that competition from similar products, especially imported ones is a big challenge as some people still believe in imported beverages. Promoters of the Buy Uganda, Build Uganda policy have their work cut out. Achievements Ms. Nakayenga s biggest achievement has been growing the business from scratch to a multimillion shilling enterprise. Job creation: From four employees including herself and three of her children, Rena Beverages is now the proud employer of 18 full-time staff and over 80 part-time workers, employed along the value chain. The ratio of women to men permanent employees is 2:1. It also turns out that all the women permanent employees are single mothers. This was not Ms. Nakayenga s intention. It just turned out that way. As a result, the single mothers are now able to earn a steady income, provide for their families and put their children through school. Gender sensitive work environment: Women labourers on Ms. Nakayenga s hibiscus farm are free to bring their young children to work with them. Someone is appointed to mind the children while the mothers earn their living in the gardens. Additionally, while on the farm, the working mothers and their children enjoy a free, nutritious meal as part of their remuneration. UNBS Certification: Additionally, getting UNBS certification allows Rena Beverages products into export markets; especially regional markets. The company also won the UNBS 2016 Food and Safety Award. This attests to consistent and improving quality. Automated processing: Furthermore, the business has grown from using rudimentary methods of producing wine with a small saucepan and charcoal stove, a domestic blender and buckets to store juice to a semi-automated process. Ms. Nakayenga plans to fully automate the production line in the near future. Formal Registration: The business is fully registered and is emerging as a recognize power player in the hibiscus processing industry. Rena Beverages is being emulated as one of the successful startups in the country. National Recognition: She says that being an entrepreneur has enabled her have status in society and her business has been listed as one of Uganda s 100 successful businesses by the Uganda Manufacturers Association. I have been invited to talk to women in some workshops. I have been hosted on several media platforms and I believe this is worth celebrating, Nakayenga, who is also the president of the Association of Hibiscus Value Chain, says. The association seeks to ensure the production of quality hibiscus products across the value chain. 6