Juliet Tumusiime’s Cheveux Organique: turning banana waste into hair

Research methodology Information from secondary sources was used to develop this case study. The sources of the data include the organization’s website, annual reports, news releases, published reports and online documents. Case overview/synopsis As of 2024, Uganda was one of the world’s leading producers and consumers of bananas. Banana was a major food crop in the country, with approximately 75% of farmers cultivating it.9 It contributed up to 25% of the daily calorie intake of people in the rural areas. [1] A tremendous amount of bananas had to be harvested to meet the demand, and a substantial amount of trash was generated in the process, as the stems of the plants had to be severed and discarded. This trash ended up in landfills and decayed there, producing methane and polluting the environmental ecosystem. While working on a project on the banana plant value chain, Juliet Tumusiime (Juliet) saw the enormous amount of trash generated from banana cultivation. She observed farmers throwing away the banana stems after harvesting the fruit, unaware of the potential hidden in what they considered trash. This sparked in her an interest in exploring ways to recycle the discarded stems. Another practice that bothered her was the use of synthetic hair extensions. This was because she realized how these hair extensions, made of microplastics, were adding to the plastic pollution in Uganda when they were discarded after use. As of 2024, the country was generating 600 tons of plastic waste daily, of which only 6% was collected or recycled.7 Juliet’s concern for the environment and her passion to create something valuable out of the banana waste motivated her to start Cheveux Organique Limited (Cheveux) – a company to create eco-friendly hair extensions from banana fibers. However, converting banana stem into fiber was a labor-intensive process that consumed time and involved manual work. Every stage in the production process increased the costs, with the result that the final product had to be sold at a price that most Ugandans could not afford. Cheveux produced about 5 kg of banana fiber hair a month, priced at approximately US$50 per 150 gm. This was much higher than the price of imported synthetic extensions. The major challenge for Juliet was to make the product affordable to Ugandans. Cheveux was not the only player in the market. There was stiff competition from companies who were operating in the natural hair extension segment in Uganda. Also, there was competition from synthetic hair manufacturers. Despite these challenges, Juliet was hopeful of leading the hair extension industry with her eco-friendly hair extensions to keep the environment free of plastic. Juliet stood at a crossroads as she was considering scaling up operations to meet the growing demand. One way forward involved investing in automation – an option that could reduce production costs, increase production and make the products competitive in regional and international markets. However, adopting this route would result in lower job creation and displacement of some employees. How will Juliet weigh the long-term sustainability and growth of her business against her commitment to job creation and community empowerment? The question remains: How will Juliet find a path to scale up her business amidst balancing innovation and inclusion? Complexity academic level This case is intended for use in MBA, Post-Graduate (PG)/Executive level programs as part of the Business Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability courses.