The Black hair care industry is a multi-billion dollar industry controlled predominately by Korean conglomerates and business men that have largely cornered the market here in the US and driven down prices and brought out the competition, according to a statement issued by the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association (BOBSA).
According to Mintel Reports – market and trends analyst – Black consumers outpace every other ethnic group in terms of haircare product usage citing 51 percent saturation compared to 34 percent for the overall US consumer market, the report states. This essentially has created a $2.7 billion domestic hair care and cosmetics market and a $9 billion international market for the global Black haircare and cosmetics industries, based on 2015 data.
However, for the first time in modern history, the Chinese government and the founder of BOBSA, Sam Ennon, who was invited to China this past October, have struck up a strategic relationship: “We have created an alliance named Enterprise of Black Hair Alliance (EBHA) to change the distribution of hair in the US,” said Ennon.
Ennon was given a tour of the factories to understand and witness the processing of the wigs and haircare products, also noting some of the challenges store owners may have. “ I have been told many times by African-American store owners that they buy directly from the factories. After being there, myself I realize the logistics are not possible, which are a hindrance to the success of Black beauty supply stores and limits competition in this market.”
On the contrary, Ennon also understood the major struggles for the factories. “I learned that the factories have their struggles as well.” To bridge the challenges of both cultures in the Black haircare industry, Ennon was introduced to a new factory – Anhui Union Hair and Culture Co. Ltd.
The recently built factory was invested in by a number of hair factories coming together for this great accomplishment. The goal is to use this new company to sell direct to customers by collaborating with BOBSA. “It was a very exciting moment when I saw the 2,000 acre-lot and 250,000 square feet building that I realized what a great opportunity this is to finally be able to help Black-owned beauty supply stores to be able to compete with others.”
Stay tuned as this groundbreaking partnership is definitely poised to become one of 2017’s biggest business and success stories for Black stylist and entrepreneurs.
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