Beauty manufacturing company leverages upscaling program to improve production quality

Saru organics is a Kenyan-based manufacturing company that produces and distributes organic beauty care products. According to the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mkamboi Mwakale, the company aims to delight its customers with result-driven transformative products and experiences. Mkamboi’s dream for Saru Organics was to scale up the company and move its products from niche flea markets to mass markets

As a small and medium enterprise (SME) in manufacturing, Saru organics faced the challenge of achieving the desired quality of products. Most SMEs in the manufacturing sector fall into the trap of poorly produced raw materials and sub-standard manufacturing processes that eventually affects the quality of their final products. According to a survey conducted by Strathmore University Business School and SYSPRO in 2019 on the manufacturing sector in Kenya, some manufacturing enterprises use outdated technology, and others operate on fully manual systems.

These production challenges affecting manufacturing SMEs and leading to poor or average quality products is a brand setback, eventually leading to strained market penetration. Kenya’s manufacturing SMEs like Saru organics compete with international brands, and without a proper quality breakthrough, it is hard to acquire the desired market share.
Saru organics’ CEO, Mkamboi, joined Invest in Africa’s initiative on upscaling manufacturing SMEs in natural products to grow her company through quality products. According to her, one of the lessons that stood out was about good manufacturing practices, and transparency and traceability. “After the training, my team and I developed a chart indicating a standard flow of the manufacturing process of our products. This outline has ensured that we consistently follow a process that guarantees the product quality we desire. Through transparency and traceability, Saru organics has documented information about their suppliers, tracing back to the raw material production, storage, and transportation methods. They also began to require their suppliers to uphold the recommended standards in raw material production and handling. 

“As a result of the advancements we have made to our production journey, our products have improved in quality, and the market is appreciating them more,” Says Mkamboi. She adds that Saru has experienced increased market penetration, including signing a market deal with a major beauty brand, True cosmetics. According to the Chief Executive Officer, the improved product quality has elevated the company’s brand, enabling it to place its products in major marketplaces such as Sendy and supermarkets. 

Saru organics is one of the 40 MSMEs from Kenya and Uganda that have been engaged under this Initiative that IIA is implementing in partnership with GIZ’s Business Scouts for Development. The program involved technical support within five modules: Access to finance, access to the market, new product development, good manufacturing practices, and transparency and traceability.