EcoVillage Natural Beauty

Assistance to enterprises / Articles / 07-07-2022

Hassen Kaabachi is the co-founder and manager of EcoVillage Natural Beauty, a cosmetics company that produces natural hygiene care products, such as creams, lotions, perfume, and soap infused with essential oils. The company is based in Sidi Bouali in Sousse governorate. 

EcoVillage photo 1

After working in the tourism and catering industries, Hassen decided to launch his own entrepreneurial project. With an interest in natural cosmetics, Hassen and a co-founder jumped into the essential oils industry and created EcoVillage, utilizing Tunisia’s world-famous olive oil and other rich natural ingredients for their products. The company started in 2013 with a small production unit and only two employees.

For EcoVillage’s first line of beauty products, it distilled orange blossom and rosemary waters and essential oils. However, the company was limited due to its low production capacity and struggled to compete with larger producers that were already established in the market.

EcoVillage photo 2

In the first year, most of the company’s sales were to tourists at the EcoVillage guesthouse near Sousse. The following year, however, EcoVillage expanded its client base by displaying its products, packaged in attractive jute material, at tourist centers and handicraft fairs. Despite these efforts, EcoVillage still did not achieve the steady growth it sought. USAID Tunisia JOBS stepped in to provide the company’s marketing team with digital marketing training, helping it reach a broader customer base and boost its sales. To meet this new demand, EcoVillage opened new stores throughout Tunisia.  

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, EcoVillage had to temporarily close its stores and struggled to meet its commitments to its suppliers. To recoup its losses, the company shifted its strategy and quickly identified a new opportunity -- to produce disinfectant gel that was in high demand due to the health crisis. 

JOBS awarded EcoVillage a grant to purchase machinery and bottling material to produce large orders of disinfectant gel for pharmaceutical laboratories and retailers. This support helped EcoVillage bolster its sales, aid in the national effort to fight the pandemic, and create seven new jobs.

Hassen Kaabachi EcoVillage

"This assistance has helped us better manage the pandemic. We have now resumed manufacturing our flagship products and plan to open two new stores."
Hassen Kaabachi
Manager & Co-founder – EcoVillage Natural Beauty

 

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