A New Zealand start-up has landed a lucrative deal. Sustainable cleaning products start-up Good Change started in 2019 has just landed a deal with Woolworths Australia that will see their products on the shelves of an estimated 635 supermarket shelves across Australia.
Through hard graft, innovative products, and a bit of number 8 wire mentality; the Tauranga co-founders, Stine Smith and Kristy Hunter, have turned their start-up into a million-dollar business. Now in over 550 independent stores in Australia and over 400 stores in New Zealand. This latest deal with Woolworths Australia will increase their turnover by 300 percent and give them an estimated increase of $3m in turnover.
It’s a huge moment for Hunter and Smith, who started Good Change just before Covid lockdown and always had the intention to take it international. They initially launched with compostable eco cleaning cloths and bamboo wipes (made to replace the plastic, single-use versions) and later added their own New Zealand-designed and -manufactured water-less cleaning tablets for household cleaning.
"We feel like we have really built the trust of the consumers with our products and the Woolworths buyers told us there was nothing else like us on their shelves – they were quite excited when they saw our range and heard about how authentically we care about reducing plastic from everyday items," said Hunter.
NZ Start-Up Lands Lucrative Deal with Woolworths
"Australians see New Zealanders as leaders in the environmental space and they feel really confident bringing in a product that is sustainable, well-designed, affordable and trustworthy. It just ticked all their boxes."
Good Change is the only sustainable cleaning product company to sell a glass bottle (which they call Bottle For Good) for their cleaning tablet refills. This impressed the Woolworths’ buyers.
"We believe it’s pointless to sell a plastic bottle if you run a company that tries to get rid of plastic. Recycled or not, plastic is still plastic and furthermore adds to the microplastic issues we’re seeing too. Woolworths found this problematic too and wanted a glass bottle on their shelves for customers that don’t want plastic. We went to a lot of effort to design our bottle and it really paid off – they loved how solid the glass is, that it's protected by a silicone base, and the overall design."
The cleaning tablets were put to the test against other products. "In the category review, they literally filled up the bottle on the spot, added the refill cleaning tablet and tried it on several surfaces and grime, right in front of us. Thankfully they were really impressed!"
Hunter and Smith are excited about introducing their plastic-free cleaning options to Australian consumers but they’re also looking further ahead – they’re in the planning phase of an American launch and are doing R&D on an exciting range of new products, also in the plastic-free sustainable cleaning space.
Good Change will be in an estimated 635 selected Woolworths Australia stores from June 2024.
