Dutch couple find entrepreneurship in Bangladesh
When Dutch couple Rosanne van Kleef and Rik van Dueren den Hollander, both 23, set off on an around-the-world trip in September 2014 to celebrate Rosanne's graduation with a master's in entrepreneurship, they did not imagine they would discover Bangladesh, much less establish their luxury luggage brand Juuty.
New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines: the trip was going well until, with dreams of India, they met a minor problem in Myanmar. To get an Indian visa would take time, they learnt, while Bangladesh offered visa-on-arrival. “It's impossible,” other travellers said. “You cannot go to Bangladesh. Nobody travels there.”
“Other tourists had no experience but big opinions,” says Rik. “If everybody says it's impossible, we like to try.” In the Netherlands, Rik worked on ship safety at the Rotterdam port, and in agriculture.
According to Rik, the general opinion of Bangladesh in Europe is similarly negative. “Everybody mentions poverty,” he says. “Everybody knows about Rana Plaza,” he adds, referring to the 2013 Savar garment factory collapse that claimed over 1,100 lives.
Within a few days of the decision, the couple arrived in Dhaka. “We were overwhelmed by the hospitality,” says Rosanne, no doubt the experience of many first-timers.
Having arranged online to stay privately, the couple had an instant social network. “It was unbelievable,” recalls Rik. “We had difficulty managing all the invitations. We thought it was because we were new. A few months later, it dawned on me that in Dhaka this is normal.” Busy with newfound friends and having renewed visas, plans for India never eventuated.
“We liked Bangladesh so much that we wanted a reason to return,” says Rosanne on how thoughts turned into business. “We started asking anyone who'd listen what Bangladesh does well. Everybody spoke of the golden fibre: jute.”
At the same time, the couple visited a garments factory to see if what they had heard about Rana Plaza was usual. “The first factory we saw,” recalls Rik, “was very well managed. They even had floor lines indicating where to walk safely.” They wondered if even some Dutch factories couldn't benefit from what they had seen. “It was a big surprise.”
The couple visited many factories to be greeted with the same, warm reception. “We'd arrive at the front gate and the security guard would always run off to find an English speaker. We said we were tourists, just wanted to see... and everywhere drank tea.”
Another discovery was the country's leather industry. “The leather is world class,” says Rik. “It's exported to Italy but isn't branded as Bangladeshi. Why can't it be called Bangladeshi leather? We want to change that.”
The couple were still living out of suitcases. “We always have trouble finding things,” Rosanne laughs. A personal wish for a practical bag with generous pockets entered the idea mix that led to a product decision.
Juuty, a word that sounds like the English and Dutch 'jute' and 'juti', which means 'couple' in Bangla, would be a Bangladesh-based exclusive luggage brand.
“Others are making jute bags,” says Rik, “but the combination with leather is new. Bangladesh is good at bulk production but we hope to encourage high quality manufacturing.”
During a visit to the Jute Research Institute, they saw a new type of jute that is soft as silk and without the usual jute smell. “Durable and strong, jute is the most eco-friendly fibre in the world,” says Rik. “It grows without chemicals.”
Along with their personal commitment to eco-friendly production, the couple understood that to establish Juuty as a premier label, such standards are a must. “European consumers care about the environment,” says Rosanne.
More challenging was leather production. Having visited the Hazaribagh workshops to the point they are well-known there, they are enthusiastic about the industry's relocation to Savar. “The new site has a water treatment plant,” says Rik. “In future, Bangladeshi leather will be produced in the best way.”
They also decided to pay more for leather that uses biodegradable vegetable extracts rather than chemicals in the tanning process, consistent with Juuty's social responsibility promise.
With initial designs sketched on envelopes, Rosanne and Rik sought out a trustworthy factory in Gazipur. They wanted to work with Bangladeshis rather than establish their own factory. “The workers only need quality training,” says Rosanne, noting that the first prototypes were not up to the mark.
Similarly, the contract was a surprise to factory management. “They were shocked at all the quality assurance conditions,” laughs Rik. “The contract covers the entire supply chain. It's the size of a small book and took them two days to read.” Nonetheless with careful oversight, satisfactory systems were established.
For workers, Juuty also brought innovation: comfortable uniforms to promote team spirit, and the desire that each worker knows every production step rather than working on only one step repeatedly.
“Workers will know the whole bag,” explains Rosanne. “We want them to enjoy making our products, essential for quality.”
Ultimately, Juuty plans to establish an online system to connect the worker responsible for each individually numbered item with the product's end user. Such personalisation will undoubtedly appeal to many customers and the worker-end user link brings yet another meaning of 'couple' to the word 'Juuty'.
Initial market reaction has been promising. “We carried one of our bags in an exclusive store in Singapore,” says Rosanne. “The sales assistant stopped us to ask where she could buy one.” Interest was so great at a trade fair in China that the couple hid the Juuty bag to prevent copying.
Early sales in the Netherlands have outperformed expectation. “Customers are happy with the bags and accessories, which are different to other brands,” says Rosanne. “They like the unique materials and appreciate that Juuty's items are manufactured in a sustainable and fair way.”
Yet the couple believe some aspects of doing business in Bangladesh could be improved. “There is no structure to establishing a business. You do have to figure out everything yourself,” says Rosanne. She mentions several calls to the National Board of Revenue where the receivers hung up as soon as they heard English. “Much information is only in Bangla,” she says.
“If you ask ten people about business rules, you will get ten answers. If you wait for all the answers, nothing happens, it will never start,” says Rik. Adopting a try-and-see approach, they imported Chinese metal fixtures, the only part of the bags not sourced locally, with the final cost being established only after goods arrived.
The couple believe doing business in Bangladesh is satisfying because it is easy to make positive impacts on ordinary people's lives. “We hope to employ more people. We want to offer specialised manufacturing training in quality,” says Rik.
Juuty is the Bangladesh of the future, a Bangladesh that can both bulk produce and meet the demands of high-end quality and design. The combination of jute and leather expertise, with a better understanding of what high-end consumers want, was almost waiting to happen. It was an opportunity waiting to be discovered by an enterprising couple like Rosanne and Rik.
“We can't fix all the problems,” Rik says. “We will do what we can. Entrepreneurship can help a lot of people.”
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