How Kair worked with Sourceful to launch their brand and meet their sustainability targets
When your packaging needs to stand out in a busy market.
Introduction
Kair is an e-commerce business that produces and sells premium laundry detergent. They offer all-natural, biodegradable detergents with no added chemicals to keep clothing clean, undamaged and long-lasting. Kair’s mission is to improve sustainability in fashion by helping customers extend the life of their clothing. That way they “Buy Less, Wear More”. From clothing wash to finishing sprays, all formulas are vegan, cruelty-free and eco-friendly. To ensure a successful brand launch, Kair partnered with Sourceful to source, design and produce custom sustainable packaging for their product line.
The Challenge
Kair wanted to create premium sustainable packaging to reflect the quality of their detergents ahead of their launch in June 2021. As a new brand, however, they needed help to understand what materials would work best for their core product packaging and which were the most sustainable. To support their mission for responsible consumption, their packaging needed to hit their sustainability targets but also stand out in a busy market.
They were also short on time. Kair required multiple packaging components including high-quality bottles for their formulas, custom labels and mailer boxes with inserts to protect products during shipping. And they only had six months to find, test, sample and produce all of this packaging. Kair had never sourced packaging before so the entire packaging supply chain was new to them. They needed guidance on where to begin and how to create the best packaging for their brand within a limited time frame.
The Solution
With Sourceful, Kair found an end-to-end partner to source both their product packaging and e-commerce packaging. Sourceful’s experts provided Kair with detailed advice and data on everything from materials and design to pricing and production. Then, working together, they were able to create the best and most sustainable packaging solution for Kair’s products.
Within six months, Sourceful developed 19 different packaging products for Kair – all at the same time and all in time for launch. These included six different bottles, eight types of stickers, two boxes with inserts, one mesh bag, one bottle cap and one bottle sprayer. All the individual products had to be sourced, designed and tested for quality. Then, each product went through multiple sample rounds before being finalised for production. By partnering with Sourceful, Kair was able to create the packaging they wanted without the complexity of managing multiple suppliers and dealing with different lead times. They were able to better understand the packaging supply chain and move from concept to delivery with the confidence that all their packaging would be ready for launch.
“We’ve been working with Sourceful since day one in order to make sure that we started trading with a simplified, optimised packaging supply chain. Sourceful has consistently managed to provide excellent client service and clear visibility on lead times and pricing, enabling us to effectively manage the supply of a large number of components through a single point of contact."Jack Walker, Strategy & Operations at Kair
The Result
Leveraging Sourceful's expert guidance, Kair was able to launch their product line with primary and secondary packaging that aligned with their ethical and sustainable values. Their formulas now arrive in frosted glass bottles which are responsibly sourced, refillable, reusable and endlessly recyclable. These are then delivered to customers in 100% recyclable mailer boxes. Kair is now working with Sourceful on their first replenishment order with a focus on further improving the packaging design. They’re also expanding their range with two further products.