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Anie Rouleau | The Unscented Company
72 Plays3 months ago
Many of care deeply about what we put IN our body but a lot fewer of us take seriously what we put ON our body OR what we use in our homes to keep us clean and fresh.
In this sustainability infused episode of Aisle 42 I chat with Anie Rouleau, the founder of The Unscented Company, and we cover some really interesting ground around fragrance allergies and her inspired approach to creating natural, biodegradable, and safe-for-everyone home, body care, and pet care products.
We talk about environmental standards, how her team is reducing single-use plastic packaging, their Bcorp certification and ultimately their passion for consumer health.
Their product line up is amazing - I can’t wait to try the shampoo bars.
Learn more about this remarkable, fragrance free products at https://unscentedco.com/.
Learn more about who is behind this podcast at https://www.ethicalfoodgroup.com/podcast.
Here’s a snapshot of this interview:
Anie's Personal Journey: Anie's intolerance to fragrances led her to create The Unscented Company, focusing on natural and biodegradable products.
Sustainability Commitment: The company aims to reduce single-use plastic packaging and offers innovative refill solutions.
Product Essentials: Focus on essential home and body care products that are natural, efficient, and exclusively fragrance-free.
Environmental Impact: Achieved a significant milestone by saving over 1.5 million plastic bottles from entering the environment.
Biodegradable Ingredients: Emphasis on using natural, vegan ingredients and ensuring products are highly biodegradable.
B Corp Certification: Recognition for their commitment to social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
Consumer Challenges: Overcame initial resistance to fragrance-free products and educated consumers on the benefits of natural and unscented items.
Innovative Product Lines: Successful introduction of shampoo bars and pet care items, contributing to reducing plastic waste.
Connection to Nature: Anie's personal love for outdoor activities influences the brand's philosophy and product design.
Celebrity Endorsement: Gwyneth Paltrow's organic endorsement helped propel the brand's recognition and success.
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
This is aisle 42.
00:00:07
Speaker
Many of us care deeply about what we put in our body, but a lot fewer of us take seriously what we put on our body or what we use in our homes to keep us clean and fresh. In this Sustainability Infused episode of IL-42, I chat with Annie Rullo, the founder of The Unscented Company. And we cover some really interesting ground around fragrance allergies and her inspired approach to creating natural, biodegradable, and safe for everyone home body care and pet products. We talk about environmental standards, how our team is reducing single-use plastic packaging, their B Corp certification, and ultimately their passion for consumer health. Their product lineup is amazing and I can't wait to try their shampoo bars. Okay, here we go. Here's Annie from The Unscented Company.
00:00:55
Speaker
Ani, I am so excited about this conversation. Your product is, well, I came across it just about ah maybe two years ago initially and then got to learn more about it better a year ago. It seems like you're growing like crazy. You have so much to offer people. You're doing so many good things for people and the planet. But before we get all to that, I want to officially welcome you to the IL-42 podcast and I want to ask you the question. If you were to imagine the perfect grocery store of the future, what would it look like? It would definitely have less space, like less square foot, just the essential, no cash. No cash. No cash here. Yeah, I think that's the best scenario I could ah dream of. Your biggest friction point is having to go through the checkout.
00:01:50
Speaker
it's when you go to the checkout. And I think Uniqlo has the perfect solution where you just cross with everything and it just sends you the bill and it pays right away. All right. Maybe you could just drive up, open your window. They just throw all your groceries in and you drive away. I would love that. I love it, that's so good. Okay, so the Unscented Company. When I first saw your product at ah an industry show, it really struck me as a bold play around packaging, a bold play around an aesthetic that I thought was very attractive. But what really got my attention was all of the things that you guys are doing to bring you know the the impact that your business is having on people and on our beautiful earth.
00:02:38
Speaker
And it was your B Corp certification that um in your category kind of stood out to me as as really interesting. So I'm excited to get into everything. the I'd love for listeners to get a sense of what it is that you guys make. So can you walk us through your products? I know you don't have necessarily have to list all of them. You guys have so much going on, but what are the things that you guys are making and and what do people love? Well, actually, when I launched the Unscented Company, it was to redefine the notion of clean. I always like to say that at first because it's a home and body care product that is natural, biodegradable, efficient,
00:03:19
Speaker
exclusively fragrance free, but we've designed our product line to reduce our plastic footprint. So basically, Cohen, I am a soap company with detergents, with hand soap, with dish soap. And by definition, I am part of an industry that creates one of the worst environmental like disaster, the single-use plastic packaging. So it is not just a bottle of water, it's our bottle of dish soap and laundry soap and shampoo and conditioner. So I really wanted to come up with a simple line of products with only the essentials
00:04:05
Speaker
and yet designed to reduce or single-use plastic packaging. So that's what I wanted to do in 2016. But obviously, when you launch a line of product and consumers are really used to fragrance and I'm completely natural, unscented and refillable, it was tough to get the message across and get the consumer excited about that because natural used to mean that it wasn't performing, that it didn't foam, that it was too expensive. And yet if it's unscented, if it doesn't smell lavender or lemon, it's not clean.
00:04:47
Speaker
And oh, by the way, why why don't we just refill or reuse our bottles of plastic or glass and last for years on a counter? So it was a big challenge. And suddenly the consumer, I guess they changed. They are so changing the consumer habit. They know what's going on with the plastic in the ocean. they The big companies have also addressed the issue. So we just are at the right time and the right momentum where consumers, not only do they want to buy unscented, they do want to reduce their waste. They want to contribute and be part of a company that has a positive impact and ah added value. So that's where I stand. I never, never woke up in my life thinking I would sell the best dish soap on the planet and become the leader. We are going to lead the market by change.
00:05:47
Speaker
wonderfully said. And I think your play into like fragrance free is a part of our home life here. My wife, you know, is always looking for things that, you know, either have very specific sense that she's comfortable with and, you know, heard that her skin is fine with, but many are not. So a fragrance free or unscented product is very attractive to her. What was it about kind of going the unscented route that was so important? Was it it was it a personal preference of your own that sort of made you feel like you just had to make more of this for other people?
00:06:20
Speaker
Absolutely. um At the age of 13, I had my first migraine. And naturally, I became an unscented environment in my house with my family, ah my business. I just was intolerant to fragrances. not Nothing and overwhelming, but definitely that I could not tolerate it. So when I launched the line, I was 43 years old. The two kids were three and four. It just made sense. I said, you know what? I've been doing my own products at home, living unscented. Maybe there's somebody else like me. And guess what? Not only do I attract people that are intolerant, that don't like it, that are pregnant,
00:07:07
Speaker
young children with anything from eczema to allergy to asthma. There's also men that don't necessarily, that lives alone and don't necessarily want to smell all the floral in the apartment. And every person that goes to the gym, that goes to fishing, hunting, outdoor camping, They love unscented so just that i think i have a good enough market for me fragrance was not part of the name says it all it's the unscented company it's not just a trademark it's a brand positioning it's a marketing attribute so i'm never gonna add fragrance so i want to deliver my promise.
00:07:53
Speaker
And that's how I'm going to do it. And really, unscented, just the category is big enough for me to grow a nice and profitable business. And there's something about the scented businesses out there that there are times where, yes, someone will walk by or sit in front of me or sit near me and I'm like, and you can just smell the pungent, whether it's some deodorant or body spray that they've used or some shampoo or a conditioner or hair product or whatever, or perfume. And you're just, you're almost kind of gagging on it. i Those are pretty extreme scenarios, but but it happens. And you realize that you know there are plenty of people that are out there that are,
00:08:34
Speaker
buying and wearing or using products that have a lot of stuff in them, which our bodies are not meant to absorb or our brains are or you just, it can be really hard on us. But um I'm not sure everyone, I'm not sure those people realize that their fragrance is quite off-putting. So I think it was your positioning around Unscented that first got my attention. Yeah, mostly because of my my family and and what we buy, but it's so good. And I think I came across a number, 1.5 million bottles saved. That's a lot of plastic that you're actively working to replace um in in the system. and
00:09:14
Speaker
When I see all the plastic out there in the grocery stores and in our, all the places that we're shopping, it's some overwhelming. So I think single use plastic or plastics that, you know, don't have a long usability, they're doing some damage. So it's what's it been like sort of designing and building a system based on the refill model? and Absolutely. And I think when you walk through those aisles in the grocery store, there's two things for me. It's becoming more and more the smell. You really can walk through it and you see the amount of plastic. And those two things are definitely, I'm part of the solution for that.
00:09:56
Speaker
And you cannot, in 2024, build a business, put up ah some products on the shelf, and not be mindful of the packaging. I think within five years, if we're not mindful of the packaging, we'll be old-fashioned as businesses. I think we need to address it. And the consumer is ready. And 100% of our products, you can purchase the the refills or the solid alternatives, which For example, a shampoo bar, a so a conditioner bar, a soap bar, laundry tabs and dish tabs and dryables. So there's plenty of solution out there now that are plastic free and at the same time, water free.
00:10:42
Speaker
So it it is more than just saving bottles. We are saving water at the same time. And now every year that's our environmental KPI. So that's the Key Performance Indicator. It's not just about the finance part of the business, but it's about how our consumer and how when you purchase the unscented, what does it impact? And to be able to put that number, 1.5 million, and every customer when they go on our website and they purchase through our website,
00:11:19
Speaker
they know exactly how many bottles they personally saved. And I think the more we put that communication out, we realize that each and every one of us do have an impact. It's not true that you just saved 12 bottles this year. it is 12 bottle and it's great. So i'm I'm excited that I would say since five years that the consumer have really bought it into the refills and that they buy their first starter kit and after that they yeah they buy the refills because the retailers are also offering refills on the shelves and that's important too. So it's the entire industry
00:12:02
Speaker
and mostly the consumer that's ready to move forward. who and Talk to me about biogradable ingredients. When we think about you know the stuff that's going down the drain, you know sometimes we can, as regular people, we can kind of take it for granted that the stuff that's going down the drain is going to get filtered properly or processed properly and maybe it can or maybe it can't. We don't give it as much consideration as we should. You guys are considering it. Nerd out a little bit for me and and talk to us about biogradable ingredients. What are you guys using to make that happen?
00:12:37
Speaker
I think, first, when you offer, let's say, a dish soap or a laundry detergent on the market, and you want it to be as much as natural as possible, we're not perfect. We do have ingredients in there that are considered synthetic or conservative. So they're there to protect the products. But we always want to put as much as natural du directative ah derivative ingredients. Mostly, obviously, vegan, so mostly ah vegetable.
00:13:13
Speaker
ah the vial And I don't think I know that word in English, but you want to always to be vegan. So by definition, you will have a product that is more biodegradable. You always want to do the testing. So each ingredient, each formulation do go into testing to make sure we are biodegradable. And there's an international standard that your products has to disappear from the environment 60% of it within 28 days. After that, it can be a bit longer, but you always want to be as much biodegradable. And our products are between 80% to 99% biodegradable within the first 28 days ah hitting the ground.
00:14:03
Speaker
So for me, today, all products can be biodegradable. I'm not saying that everyone is doing it, but what we call the green chemistry. So the way we formulate, it is absolutely available. It's not more expensive. And I think today there's one attribute any consumer should look for. Let's start with biodegradable and after we can move. But I think you it is very easy to make that very quick consumption habit change. And let's go back to your bar strategy here.
00:14:38
Speaker
putting Shampoos and obviously soaps and and as many things into like bars or water free formats. I mean it's very logical in that well if you can you can rehydrate something you can add water to things you can I know the soap that we one of the soaps we use um you know it's sort of just a distilled water gets added to it off the refills. How are consumers responding to the bars is especially like I guess it's barred shampoo and conditioner. are Is that a growing category or more and more people buying those?
00:15:10
Speaker
Absolutely. A shampoo bar actually is our number one selling on the web. So I think what helped a little bit is all of those new regulations of traveling. And traveling with liquid can get messy, and it's tough at the border. And so shampoo bar became a very big traveling item. It's a great item to go to the gym and to go to any sort of outdoor. And so ah for us, these are fastest growing. The shipping, it's easier. There's never a mess. And the reason why I don't think it picked up before is that I don't think we have the right formulation. And for us women, we like to be able to wash her hair and style it, go to work.
00:16:02
Speaker
I didn't want to have a shampoo bar only because i'm doing camping and after six days i must wash my hair i want to be able to wash my hair go to work and have the same results and so we came up with a formulation that is. as efficient and has as ah used for women to be able to style their hair. And I think that's when we saw that when we got a product that was efficient on the market, people tried it and said, oh, my God, that actually works. And so it became one of her fastest growing item. And now it's number one. So the impact of people ah using shampoo bars is tremendous.
00:16:47
Speaker
Nan, you've brought up camping now twice, so I have to ask. Yeah, I don't know why, yeah. Is camping a big part of your life? Nature is. Nature is, and definitely the outdoor is, and we, I believe, you know, nature is our strength at the Unscented Company. If you look at our branding, you'll see the mountain, Saint-Mentrain-Blanc, Lacroix-Maine-Quebec, you'll see the wave. It is south shore of Halifax. And in nature, you have two things. You've got to respect it and there's a beauty in it. And so that's where our brand comes from, the beauty of the nature. And because we're a B Corp, we got to respect it. So for me, maybe the camping or we've got our team that.
00:17:31
Speaker
that does a lot of outdoor activities and um they run, they do cycling. It's just, I guess, one it's part of the DNA of the business. That's why I bring it up. And it just makes sense because I remember going camping and washing my hair with a soap bar. And I just couldn't believe we were doing that. And now that I have a true shampoo bar, it makes a whole difference. Well, I'm doing an overlanding road trip to the Arctic Ocean later in August. It's going to be a two or three week adventure, depending on weather and road conditions.
00:18:06
Speaker
and And I tell you, if i ah we are going to be jumping into the Arctic Ocean in early early September, it's going to be um pretty cold because it's um the snow is almost going to be flying at that point. And so I think the idea of having a... ah What if I wash my hair in the Arctic Ocean with your shampoo bar? I don't think I'm going to be in the water long enough to use a conditioner bar. That's going to take a few extra seconds, which I don't think I'm going to survive. but but yeah so I'll do the camping for you, but I agree. I think our experience in nature is an important one. I think it's it's a very human experience that a lot of people are kind of forgetting or so or not giving priority. it doesn't Not everyone has to be a camper.
00:18:50
Speaker
But just to be outside and breathing air and being around plants and trees and flowers and seeing wildlife and I think it's an important thing. and So it's a love the fact that your brand and your team and all the work that you're doing is going towards that. I can't help but notice that you guys have two lines, two product lines, one that focuses on baby and and kids, younger demographic, younger consumer or user, which I think is fantastic. like And I was shocked to see that you have a pet care yes line, which is great. There's a lot of smelly dogs in my neighborhood. I would love to see more pet owners use products like yours to keep their pets clean. What's it been like getting into the pet industry?
00:19:35
Speaker
You know what? When I launched, I had a dream to be in every room of your house. The only place I'm not is in the garage right now. But I wanted to be in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in your shower, in your laundry room. And I have Patch. I have my dog. And he was only the only one left behind. And for me, whenever we walked into a veterinarian, and I could smell those very, I don't want to name any brand, but some detergents that smells like spring and smells like boreal forests around animal where dogs, they use their smell as a
00:20:17
Speaker
defense mechanism. So for me, it just doesn't go together. I think we absolutely need to wash animal with unscented soap. Any shampoo or any ah shampoo, dog obviously meant for dogs, but definitely just exclusively yeah unscented. So instead I said, you know what? I'm going to start my own and it's going to be a ah bar. So there's not going to be any plastic and it's fantastic. The only issue and the challenge I have, it's only one products. And so any pet chain or anywhere consumer can get it. It's tough because it's only one little products on the shelf. So it kind of doesn't get the right recognition and brand awareness.
00:21:04
Speaker
So for the baby, that's the reason that we launched for product in that category right away. It was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to have a good 10 years experience in the formulation, understanding the kid's skin and sensitivity before I put something out there. And so I waited. That's my last line. It's only for Canada right now. And it's amazing. Really, retailers and the consumers are really responding to that line of of product. And there's nothing better than the fresh smell of baby. Nothing. We don't need to hide any smells on them.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah. And I find my daughter now, she's 10 years old and some of the products that are out there for her age, you know, they're very strong, overwhelming sense, a lot of fruit and a lot of floral. And it's really quite almost toxic. And I interesting that you mentioned about migraines or headaches. um I think that she's very sensitive in in that regard. And the fragrances that a lot of you know kids, like especially like shampoo, for example, is just it is um it would keep me awake if I were to like you know have a have a shower at the end of the day, and as a lot of kids do. you know They have you know clean up at the end of the day.
00:22:26
Speaker
That smell is just ah horrible. But you're right. I think the kids or the baby and kids has its limit. I think around nine, eight years old. I'm pretty much done. I think the age of your daughter, my daughter, so between 10 and 15. That's a challenge. They are overwhelmed of products on their social media. And all those smells are, absolutely you said it, it's overwhelming. I don't have any issue if someone wants to wear perfume once in a while. that That's not, but when there's fragrance,
00:23:00
Speaker
everywhere in your household, in every single cosmetic, in every single personal care, it becomes too much. And I just figure that at least when you use unscented part of your day, that's that less on your body. Well, I have one final question for you, and it's ah it's a fun one. If there was a celebrity out there that was to spontaneously, organically endorse the unscented company, which celebrity would you want that to be? but She actually came in 2019 and it was Gwyneth Paltrow that just came and wanted to meet the Unscented Company because she detox her hair, detox her body and wanted to detox her home with the Unscented Company and she is the reason the company just
00:23:51
Speaker
Flourished because she wrote a blog on her essential products of cleaning products and it was the unscented company and she brought it on goop and From there on I just cannot believe what happened after she just made it happen So I had my lucky star. She was my turning point and I will be forever grateful Wow, I didn't know that. Maybe yeah I would have others, but I just don't think it happens in the lifetime of a business to be lucky twice. So I was really lucky once. Well, enjoy that. It's funny that I've known you for a couple of years now and didn't know that story. How bad on me, but good for you. Oh, thank you.
00:24:39
Speaker
Thank you, Andy, for all you're doing for your team and all the hard work that it takes to do these things so well and to lean into the hard places of sustainable packaging and biodegradable ingredients and doing and being so generous as your company has been with volunteer time and all the wonderful things you're doing. So thank you so much and thanks for coming onto the podcast. Oh, thank you for having me. It was great to be here.
00:25:06
Speaker
Thanks for listening to this episode of IL-42. Open up your web browser right now, I dare you, and go to unscentedco dot.com. There we have it. This one's a wrap. I'm Corwin Heber from Ethical Food Group, and I'll see you in the future.