Acala Turns One!

A letter from our founder, Hanna

Wow, well, what can I say… this year has been quite something. Launching in May 2018, the last year has been a rollercoaster of the ups and downs that only starting your own business can bring. Starting a business is no walk in the park but I can honestly say it’s the most rewarding and fulfilling thing I have ever done. There are days when I do wonder why on earth I am doing this to myself haha but then I’ll receive an email from a fellow eco-business owner wanting to collaborate on an awesome project that is shaping our world for the better. Or receive positive feedback from a customer about how Acala is helping to reduce their footprint and I remember that it’s all so incredibly worth it!

I started Acala off the back of my own attempts to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. I had made many changes in my life to cut down waste and toxins, but the area I was really struggling to make a change in was in the bathroom, in my health and beauty routine. I was using some beautiful natural and organic products but they were all in single use plastic. So, good for me but not for the planet. I started to look for alternatives and after much research found that there are some brands out there, both small and large, doing some awesome things. What started as the idea to create a small shop on my blog very quickly turned into a grand plan to create ‘Boots 2.0’; an environmentally friendly health and beauty store that could offer a viable alternative to the current high street options.

And whilst we’re not there yet I wanted to take a moment to reflect on everything that Acala has achieved this year and to say the biggest THANK YOU to you, our customers and community who have joined us for this amazing journey. Acala is nothing without you. Acala is for you. Our ultimate goal is to make a zero waste health and beauty routine accessible to all. That means through both convenience and cost. Your feedback and support to make that happen means everything for us. 

In our first year as a business we have grown our customer base to over 2,000 of you lovely lot, launched a reusable packaging service and our own brand collection of zero waste health and beauty products. We’re so proud to be able to say that we were the first company in the UK to adopt the RePack reusable packaging service to give you a waste free delivery option. You can read more about why we chose RePack here. Our own brand collection launched with a gorgeous (if I do say so myself haha) reusable bamboo safety razor, a refillable compostable vegan dental floss, toothbrushes, natural soap  and shampoo bars and more. Creating our own brand range is so exciting as we have the opportunity to really manage the supply chain and influence it for the better.

So to this next year, well for sure we’ll be launching more own brand products. Our goal with the own brand is to keep scaling up so that we can reduce costs to you making our products accessible to all. We would also like to make reusable packaging our default packaging option.

The big news though for year 2 at Acala… we have an exciting campaign in the pipeline than I’m excited to give you first insight into. It’s early stages but in October 2019 we will launch a crowdfunding campaign to introduce a refill subscription service of organic products available at your door in reusable packaging. We’re starting with the essential bathroom products including, a shampoo, conditioner and body wash; this means no more stressful searches for plastic-free products. We’ve got you covered with monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly subscription deliveries. Just choose the frequency that’s right for you. When you’re finished just pop the empties back in the post to us with the pre-paid postage label on them, we’ll sanitise and reuse both the reusable outer packaging and the bottles. Allowing you to completely eliminate waste from your routine. 

Our shampoo, conditioner and body wash are 100% naturally derived and from organic and ethically sourced ingredients to ensure we’re protecting both you and the planet. We will also be making the product available to retailers in refillable bottles so that you can go directly to your local refill/bulk store and refill your bottle.

Our goal is to keep adding to our range so that eventually you can receive everything from your cleanser and toner to your body lotion in our reusable packaging to allow you to completely eliminate waste from your beauty routine.

More to come on that! For now I will say thank you once again for all your support this last year and bid you a wonderful weekend!