Ethical beauty group, Department of Brands has experienced 40% growth year-on-year over the last three years, which founder, Bex Gold attributes to strong retail relationships, putting innovation at the forefront and investing in a solid NPD pipeline.
“Being trend and data driven has allowed us to maintain and grow shelf space. We have grown organically and up until last month, all retailers have approached us since our first pitch eight years ago. After one month of pitching this year, we have doubled our door count and are looking forward to a solid year as we work with large essential retailers in the US and UK,” she told Retailbiz.
Department of Brands will launch in over 2,000 stores in Q1 2021 across the US and the UK. The group currently works with mass retailers such as Woolworths, Priceline, Target USA and Ulta Beauty.
“We launched the first Zero Waste hair care brand BAR NONE with Woolworths last year, and this month we will launch the first mass market hair colour made from plants in a consumer-friendly straight from tube application. We have been fortunate to have the support of large mass retailers since year one,” she said.
When asked what factors are contributing to growing demand for sustainable products, Gold said the emerging Gen Z has pushed the group even further to embrace the founding pillars of ethical, cruelty free and vegan.
“Every purchase makes a difference, so we’ve extended to Zero Waste and clean formula to ensure we offer products that meet the stringent requirements of today’s customers.”
As for the impact of Covid-19 on the business: “Everything is unknown and data is choppy at the moment. We have a strong reactive supply chain, good communication with our retail partners and customers, and are supporting our team to ensure we can do our best during these uncertain times”.
The Department of Brands portfolio consists of four core brands – Brite, Bar None, Spot Medic and Kyn.