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    ETHIQUE

    We’re here to put a bar in every shower and revolutionise the cosmetics industry.

    In 2012, the first Ethique solid shampoo bar, Mintasy, was made as an alternative to the 80 billion plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles thrown out globally every year. Since then, so much has changed, but sustainability is still at the heart of everything we do. Our ingredients remain: cruelty free and vegan, palm oil free, ethically and fairly sourced, we still pay staff a living wage, donate 20% of profits to charity and are 100% plastic-free.

    We don’t just make shampoo bars now either. We’ve ventured into skincare and products for your home and pets, with plenty more exciting products in the pipeline. All with the goal of preventing plastic bottles from being made and disposed of in landfills around the world.

    Plastic free packaging:

    Growing a plastic free business has not been without challenges, many unique to us. Growing any business at the pace we have grown is tough, but encouraging people to get behind an unusual product was at first, very difficult.

    “In the early days, I went through four packaging providers, all who told me that what I wanted wouldn’t work. The boxes would break down on the shelves, they wouldn’t survive shipment and that it was impossible to guarantee sustainable stock. It was apparent they didn’t understand the need for boxes that were free of laminates, coatings and chlorines and weren’t prepared to experiment. Now we work with two incredible New Zealand packaging providers who exceed my requirements.”

    Producing solid bars:

    Producing solid bars is limiting for obvious reasons and as we’re essentially creating products from scratch that don’t exist, formulation is hard. 

    “I was on my own for many years figuring out how to invent solid face creams and self-tanners. Now, whilst I do most of the initial concepting and formulation still, I have a team of very clever chemists and engineers who figure out how to scale a product that is difficult to make. They have had to invent and build new machinery and processes to keep up with the demand, which was particularly challenging during our periods of biggest growth.”

    Plastic-free shipping:

    Logistics is extremely challenging as the use of plastic is deeply intertwined into most warehousing systems. 

    “Working with logistics facilities and retailers who don’t get it is extremely frustrating. We have had retailers shrink wrap bars or stick plastic labels on them. We’ve had logistics facilities promise to ship plastic free only to fill boxes with bubble wrap and polystyrene. What has worked for us, has been getting our partners to understand why we require our products to be plastic free in every way. Because when they get it, they then look to change the way they do business and expand their environmental actions beyond just our products.”

    Where are we going?

    Well, we’re not stopping there. Our main goal is to save the world from plastic bottles and this means we are constantly looking at ways we can increase our impact. Here’s some of what we have planned: 

    Save half a billion plastic bottles from being manufactured and disposed of in landfill by 2030.
    Increase the reach of our Super Soap Project.
    Plant 250,000 trees by the end of 2021.
    Product launches - yep, you read that right! We have a lot of these planned.