We have been nominated as a finalist in the Australian Certified Organic Awards and we have just launched a fully certified organic baby range. Its amazing! There are lots of brands that are registered as organic, or use organic ingredients, but I don’t know of a brand that has achieved this 100%.
Sixteen years ago I started a beautiful retail business in Byron Bay, Australia’s first organic baby store. Seven years ago, we started making our own branded product which we have been successfully selling but I held out on one more goal….to create a beautiful, affordable, baby skincare range that is ACO Certified Organic 100%!! It was not viable to put out a range without a baby wash, this was the sticking point all these years.
I was so strict about ingredients that I said I would never launch a baby range until it was over 95% and preferably 100%. We have one at 95% and the rest at 99 – 100% !!! My vision was clear, it had to be possible one day and I waited 7rs to ensure it happened.
I just could not stand behind my brand name without it being pure and verified as such by ACO. I have watched competitors grow with skincare that was up to 70% organic which sometimes felt defeated but I had a standard that I would not lower. Turns out, it was worth the wait!
In recent years, the importance of a Gluten Free Diet has become high on the health agenda so I added this to my list of goals, gluten free and certified organic for skincare. Our Skin is the largest organic in our body so it can absorb gluten through the skin if applied. Added to this, I insisted on no plastic so we have strong amber glass bottles to hold our lovely range.
The biggest sticking point in developing a baby range is the BABY WASH! Companies have tried over the years to develop a 100% organic baby wash but the major barriers have been – too many ingredients, too expensive, not enough foaming, not gentle enough, wrong PH. So additives prevented certification. Most “organic” baby washes in the market have between 20 – 70% organic ingredients, a significant portion is still using known harmful additives in the belief that this is the best that could be done.
In January 2016, I made a phone call to someone who I had met the Organic Industry Dinner 5 yrs earlier. At that time, I told him my goal and expressed that I felt his company had the ingredients that could help me. He said to me it would be possible. That person was Andreas from NUI. He had been working on a saponification formula with 4 simple ingredients to create a lush and moisturizing soap formula. They had achieved the outcome I was looking for and had been sitting on it with hardly anyone knowing about it. He remembered me immediately and a wonderful, short and successful phone call meant I could now reach my goal of a pure baby wash, 100% certified organic. He wanted to sell the raws and they would happily sell it to me! ( happy dance )
Andreas had little desire to market skincare, he just wanted to create the good stuff and work with farmers! He was sitting on this amazing product that had taken years of perfection of their secret recipe. He had even certified the product but it was not out there in the market. He was relieved that someone like us would create products with it!
While NUI has organic food and skincare products in the market, their true passion and achievement has been working on establishing sustainable farming and certifying farmers as organic in the south pacific. A whole other amazing story. So the fair trade component of this story was the perfect outcome for us.
So for the past 9 months ( just like a gestating woman! ) , we have been through the process of funding, partnerships, design, marketing, certification and finally manufacturing. What a wonderful natural cycle for our baby skincare to be born.
In May 2016 we took the sample range to the Naturally Good Expo to get retailer input. We found ourselves flooded with excitement and have been dealing with their excited enquiries every month since waiting for our birth! We picked up the range last week in its complete form, just in time to snap a photos and enter these awards…phew!
We have a huge demand and even new distributers on board already, major international interest and we are just overwhelmed in the best way possible about our achievement.
Three of our existing products have been best selling to rave reviews in major baby and health food stores over the last 7 yrs. They are:
Certified Organic Bottom Balm in two sizes. 45g and 85g
Certified Organic Wonder Balm 45g
Certified Organic Nipple Balm 10g
Here are the final 3 items including the unique offering of an ACO certified baby wash. Please excuse the photo, we are getting professional shots next Tuesday.
Baby Wash
Baby Powder
Baby Massage Oil
My biggest learning from this experience is to hold on to big, ambitious visions. Do not compromise, even when a goal does not appear to be achievable and the obstacles are high. Even when I it feels like a failure, keep believing success is possible because purity is worth it. Keep talking to people about it, network in the industry, remind others of my goals and network every chance you get. Take the risks to contact people who might be able to help.
Ultimately, I believe that nature does provide us with what we need and when we work with nature, not against it, we both have a greater chance of survival.
As a result of this project and vision I have had for so long, I attracted interest from a existing certified organic cosmetic business who wanted to make my products so we now employ them as producers for our Made in Australia Baby Skincare Products. Now the financial and well as the ethical rewards will be high.
Nature’s Child Skincare is Manufactured on the Gold Coast in Australia in a certified organic facility. We have our own ACO certification for our brand as well.
Nature’s Child has been a strong brand in the organic baby market for 15 years in Australia but we have never been as excited about a product launch like this one. Thank you for the opportunity to consider us in your prestigious awards. You can read what others have to say about the product launch here with this lovely article by Baylee Wood.
Best Certified Organic Product of the Year (Cosmetic) finalist at ACO Awards 2016
Nature’s Child Organic Baby Range – Launch Oct 1 , 2016
100% Gluten Free, 100% ACO Certified Organic 12013
