A Real Sign of Success
I stood back and realized that this was the best thing that could happen – the women were now better at baking than I was. The women were teaching me how to make bread! If this isn’t a sign of success, I don’t know what is. And it is a testament to both the women and our incredible TWB team.
I returned to Rwanda a week ago. I’m here for several reasons: first, to support our amazing and ever-kick-ass COO, Julie Greene, in all of her work; second, to on-board two new TWB team members (stay tuned!); and third, to welcome two representatives from our corporate sponsor, Rademaker, BV, to Rwanda. I’m only in Rwanda for one month, so it will be a whirlwind of a trip.
I usually feel a combination of anxiety and excitement coming to Rwanda.
The anxiety stems from questions like:
“Will I be able to accomplish my pre-identified tasks?”
“How much “help” can I provide, or am I really more in an oversight role?”
“How much can I actually do in a month?”
The excitement, however, thankfully and graciously, centers me to think: “Wow! Just look at how much progress we have made.” “Are you kidding me?! These women are now doing what?!” And, “Seriously, TWB team, you created this? It’s AMAZING.”
I had one of those “WOW” moments this week. I went to our bakery in Kigali to test the proper functioning of one of our ovens. I arrived and told the women, “Right, I’m going to bake some bread and test this oven. Would you like to help me?” They agreed. I began to prepare. I washed my hands and got my materials ready. Then, I realized, “Wait, where is the recipe?” I asked the women and they laughed. “We have the recipes in our heads,” they said. Impressed, but not discouraged, I said, “Wonderful! I don’t, so please pass me the recipe book.”
I started baking and one woman, Rose, laughed at me again. She said under her breath in Kinyarwanda, “You don’t know how to bake.” I stopped, stunned. Whaaaaaaat? I thought. I don’t know how to bake?! I taught you! But then the most beautiful thing happened: Rose gently pushed me out of the way and took over, still half laughing, half commenting under her breath that I didn’t know how to bake.
I stood back and realized that this was the best thing that could happen – the women were now better at baking than I was. The women were teaching me how to make bread!
If this isn’t a sign of success, I don’t know what is. And it is a testament to both the women and our incredible TWB team.
BOOM.
Marketing Challenges in Rwanda: Nutrition vs. Size
As part of our team wraps up an Acumen Course called Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid, we hope to increase our understanding of our target customers, and learn how to best market our products to them in a way that resonates and turns potential buyers into regular buyers of our quality, nutritious breads.
At our bakeries in Rwanda, TWB teaches women to bake and sell nutritious breads. These breads run the range from fortified white bread to highly nutritious, protein packed muffins and biscuits.
One of the regular hurdles we face in our work in Rwanda is mindset change.
We are trying, over time, to change people’s preferences so that they choose a nutritious bread over a fried bread. We are trying to convince people to choose quality over quantity. We are trying to get customers to try new kinds of breads and to develop a taste for unique options like carrot muffins, beet muffins, and peanut biscuits, along with the more standard breads and rolls they are already familiar with. Sometimes, it happens quickly and people love a product right away. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen at all.
We’ve all heard the sentiment that, “the customer is always right.” When you are in the food industry, this can quickly become overwhelming. Each customer has their own individual preference. Every day in our bakeries we hear reports of what customers are saying.
It’s good, it’s sweet, it’s too sweet, it’s too salty, there isn’t enough salt, it’s too soft, it’s too hard, I don’t like peanuts, the peanut biscuits are my favorite, it’s too small…The list goes on and on. The challenge is to sort through all of this feedback and decide what is consensus from most customers and what is limited to a few individual’s opinions.
From this, we revise and adjust. Do we increase the sugar content a little? Can we increase the size without losing too much profit?
And this is where TWB also has to regularly challenge our own mindsets.
Though one of our goals as an organization is to improve community access to nutritious products, and thereby improve community nutrition, we are often challenged by the local preferences and standards: large size over nutritional value, different taste palates, incredibly low cost bread from competition using low quality ingredients. From our standpoint, it may seem like a simple choice to choose the higher quality, more nutritious bread that is still the same price as the other things on the market, even if it is a little smaller.
As we market to the bottom of the pyramid, however, we need to take all of the local preferences and standards very seriously. If people prioritize size, regardless of nutritional value, we need to understand why. We need to understand why our rationale of nutritional value isn’t enough, by itself, to convince most potential customers to buy something that is smaller than what they are used to.
As part of our team wraps up an Acumen Course called Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid, we hope to increase our understanding of our target customers, and learn how to best market our products to them in a way that resonates and turns potential buyers into regular buyers of our quality, nutritious breads.
Achieving Goals!
Our women are so committed and self-determined to secure long awaited growth, not just for themselves but for their families and this country.
After six months interning with TWB I am now a full-time staff member working as the Store Manger for our Remera bakery. Over the last few months, I have come to appreciate TWB’s commitment to working efficiently and cohesively. It is clear that this is an environment where each member of the team is encouraged. As a team member each person is expected to bring new ideas and present new ideas and opportunities to grow. In return, those ideas are reviewed and everyone works together to develop and implement them in the most effective ways. What else could I ask for, being young and rising with a start up where my voice is heard, and where I am given the right directions to enhance my career?!
Upon first learning about the goals of The Women’s Bakery and the work they are doing to reach those goals, I have wanted to work with TWB. At first I was not sure if I was contributing enough. The only way to know that I was being successful was by seeing positive results and the appreciation of my teammates.
The work we do will not mean much to the community if improvements do not start within our group and our neighbors. It is always very rewarding to learn the progress our women have made since they joined TWB, having improved the standard of living and their life in their families.
Not only have they acquired new skills, but they have also acquired independence and that is evidence of a good, brilliant promising future. Our women hope to achieve their dreams through their bakery and that this will grow to be famous everywhere. They also hope to someday train other women in the same way they were trained by TWB. Our women are so committed and self-determined to secure long awaited growth, not just for themselves but for their families and this country.
