UNIDO’s support to Hendy Farms reducing post-harvest losses through eco-friendly production
March 26, 2024
UNIDO’s partnership powers the growth of Ghana’s natural cosmetics sector
April 2, 2024
Promoting sustainable livelihoods for 114 rural women through UNIDO cluster support
Solution Oasis is a socially conscious, Ghanaian, woman-led agro-processing company that manufactures premium natural skincare products from ethically sourced African kinds of butter, oils, and herbs. Their brand, BEAUTY SECRETS, is sold both on the local and international markets.
Having been in the cosmetics and personal business for more than ten years, Francesca Brenda Opoku, the founder and CEO of Solution Oasis, was faced with the challenges of quality packaging and labelling to export.
Francesca faced a tough decision. She had to opt to print some of her branding materials overseas due to ongoing losses and spoilage during transportation to outsourced processing plants.
Additionally, she grappled with significant environmental, health, and safety issues at these processing sites.
The poor conditions had resulted in a rise in illnesses among the women processors, particularly due to the excessive smoke produced during the processing of raw materials in the Northern and Central regions.
" The women groups did not pay attention to the standardization in Shea butter weight and had low capacity in implementing Good Manufacturing Practice and Quality Management Systems,” says Francesca describing how she benefitted from UNIDO support through the European Union-funded WACOMP in Ghana.
“It was clear to me that I had to solve quality and compliance issues with my products, and WACOMP supported me in understanding how to do that from raw material sourcing to processing at my cottage factory in Accra."
Mrs. Francesca Brenda Opoku, CEO of Solution Oasis, producers of Beauty Secrets cosmetics
Managing Quality of Raw Material Source:
Francesca has been working with 114 women shea nut pickers and shea butter processors such as PagSung Shea-Buter Processors and Shea-Nut Pickers Association, Gukpegu Dungu Women Co-operative Shea-Butter Processing and Marketing Society Limited, and Naiss Craft Enterprise since 2008.
By developing a strategic network with them, she could potentially meet larger orders of black soap and processed shea butter from buyers outside Ghana, but the quality of the raw material produced by her suppliers was not up to the challenge.
Her team at the factory had to work extra on black soaps and shea butter to remove stones, sticks, pieces of plastic and other impurities compromising the quality of raw materials.
She was also finding it difficult to get quality varieties of packaging materials locally which negatively affected production, planning and also ability to meet customer orders.
UNIDO supported Solution Oasis and its cluster network and the intra-cluster cooperation on different levels:
- Capacity-building training was provided for the shea butter processing groups to produce quality shea butter to meet international standards while coaching them to adhere to health and safety standards and use improved packaging materials.
- Leadership training for the rural women’s group to enhance their ability to effectively lead their organizations, drive strategic initiatives, and inspire them to adhere to the improved shea processing methods.
- Special coaching and capacity building for all workers of Solution Oasis Limited on compliance with standards, packaging, and branding to enhance their competitiveness in addition to providing them with the needed equipment for processing and packaging to enhance their capacity.
The interventions have triggered a significant impact on the value chain of Solution Oasis starting from the raw input suppliers.
- The quality of raw African black soap supplied by black soap processors in Bawjiasi in the Central region has improved significantly in terms of texture, consistency and color. There is an absence of grit in the products these cooperatives take to the local market. Processing was initially done on the bare ground leading significant introduction of grit.
- In Tamale, the consistency in the weight of the products supplied by shea butter associations improved. This enables improved planning of production volumes and product pricing. This is due to the introduction of top loading scales for standardization of products provided by WACOMP - Ghana and the packaging of the shea butter has improved with a good carton and a double film inner lining securing the butter. This has reduced spoilage and losses by up to 60% during transportation.
Managing Quality of Raw Material Sources:
“ Before the standardized GMPs training by WACOMP - Ghana, it was sometimes difficult to get quality and safe sources of large quantities of raw materials to complete my productions on time as it meant having to rely on only a few of them to buy large quantities. Not only did the WACOMP cluster approach facilitate the sharing of tools that positively impacted industrial and economic development through cost-sharing initiatives, but it helped us learn enhanced skills to get the right funding and provided equipment to produce to meet market standards”
Packaged boxes of refined Shea butter for export
Managing Packaging and Branding:
Solution Oasis and other industry players in Ghana are now benefiting from high-quality locally blown jars and bottles through the purchase and installation of PET-blowing machines provided by the project. This is giving the company packaging materials on demand, at a better price. The companies are also making savings of up to 10% on foreign exchange compared to when we used to import packaging jars and bottles.
“It was really difficult getting the right packaging bottles, especially for our emulsion products. You get easily disappointed when customers come back to complain about how it was not properly packaged when transported. And this was not only a Solution Oasis problem, some of the companies in my cluster network also were facing similar problems. WACOMP support in getting the machines for the cosmetics cluster has helped to manage the quality packaging and branding. We make our own bottles and packaging materials to our own customization which in the past were often ordered from outside the country and therefore expensive,” Francesca acknowledged.
Thanks to the project’s support, there has been a reduction in production downtime as a result of the training in Quality Management, occupational health and safety, packaging and branding for workers of Solution Oasis. The company formerly had downtime of between two weeks to 2 months due to the unavailability of packaging material.
“Our sales have increased by 20% during three months as a result of the training in Quality Management, occupational health and safety, packaging and branding for workers of Solution Oasis” proudly declares Francesca.
Madam Agnes Donkor is one of the cluster members of Solution Oasis networks who benefitted from the project and led her team members to implement the interventions in her cluster.
“ With UNIDO's invaluable support, we have forged a cohesive team, expanded production capacity, increased product quality, and surged in sales. Your guidance has been instrumental in our journey from strength to strength, propelling our business to new heights of success,” says Agnes of Naiss Craft Enterprise.
Francesca Brenda Opoku (R) explaining how the PET machine funded by WACOMP - Ghana operates at her factory
One of the staff of Solution Oasis demonstrating how one of the machines funded by WACOMP - Ghana works to ECOWAS delegation visit to her factory as part of activities of the 2nd International Cluster in August 2023
