Fairtrade Beauty: Q&A with Bubble & Balm founder Sue Acton

February 27, 2010 by Jen Marsden

The first exclusively FAIRTRADE Mark beauty brand Bubble & Balm have had a fab first year in busiess, and for Fairtrade Fortnight they have launched the first Fairtrade liquid soaps! Get soaped up. Jen Marsden caught up with founder Sue Acton and asked her about this new range.

When the “bubble burst” on Sue Acton’s corporate ten year world of banking she decided to set up Bubble & Balm last year, merging her passions for running her own business and her belief in a better world.

How has your first year with the company been?

A complete rollercoaster! When the company launched I was doing absolutely everything myself – making products, fulfilling orders, PR, book-keeping – everything from strategy to buying printer paper. Things have moved on a lot since then, and instead of making small batches of products at home we’re now making thousands of units per run. And from a few sales online, we’re now in discussions with major national retailers. There’s still never enough time to do everything – and like all growing businesses we have to balance the books – but despite the ups and downs I love what I do.

Can you tell us why Fairtrade is important to you?

Creating fantastic products without embedding the principles of fair trade throughout our business simply isn’t good enough for us; the reverse is equally true – an ethical operating model should never be an excuse for anything less than fantastic products.

Bubble & Balm is all about the ‘and’ not the ‘or’. We want to offer consumers the best of all worlds… products that are Fairtrade certified and gorgeous, natural and effective, with green packaging and great packaging, and luxurious and affordable.

Actions speak louder than words, and Fairtrade certification enables us to bring our policies to life – in other words it enables us to put our money where our mouth is. Perhaps even more than that, once you look at what Fairtrade actually means to real people and real communities – the difference it makes to everyday lives – it’s almost impossible to imagine doing it any other way.

How do you choose your ingredients within the products, and how do you think the cooperatives you work with will choose to spend the Fairtrade premium from Bubble & Balm’s soap sales?

All of our soaps are made using Fairtrade certified sugar, which means a better deal for sugar farmers in Malawi and Zambia. Our shea butter soap also includes Fairtrade certified shea butter, from Burkina Faso.

For the Kasinthula Cane Growers in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Southern Africa, the additional income earned from the Fairtrade premium has enabled, for example, the provision of clean water to three villages, meaning they no longer have to draw water from the Shire River, risking water-borne diseases and attack from crocodiles.

Products in development include Fairtrade cocoa butter (Dominican Republic) and Fairtrade olive oil (Palestine) as key ingredients.

I haven’t yet visited the cooperatives, but I’m very much hoping to have the opportunity later this year!

Why did you decide to add liquid soap to your range?

Lots of reasons! Firstly, our customers have been asking for them. Secondly, liquid soaps are now more popular than bar soaps – particularly in for example guest bathrooms and kitchens. And thirdly, we’re hoping to introduce our soaps into more ‘commercial’ environments – such as hotels, schools and offices. In fact we’ve already had a number of businesses get in touch with us wanting to swap their regular liquid soap for our Fairtrade liquid soap as part of Fairtrade Fortnight’s campaign The Big Swap.

Our anti-bacterial liquid soap in particular provides a great opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to ethical sourcing as well as being a great and effective product.

Above and beyond the Fairtrade aspect, the soaps are generally lovely – enriched with glycerine, natural ingredients and stylish yet green packaging (100% recycled plastic bottles). The range comprises citrus, lavender and anti-bacterial, with the anti-bacterial proven effective whilst remaining natural.

How do you plan to grow Bubble & Balm?

The intention has always been for Bubble & Balm to be a mainstream brand – which is why we’re very keen to see our products on supermarket shelves. Equally, we want to work with smaller independents. Looking to the future, we have some new products in development that we plan to launch later this year…watch this space!

Bubble & Balm Liquid Soaps are available for £4.35 for a 250ml bottle from its website.