KinKind, the plastic-free bath and body brand, has carved a name for itself since its launch in 2019. With a mission to make every bathroom in every home plastic-free, the pureplay brand announced it would be expanding into the world of retail starting January this year, appointing Paul Brown as the brand’s sales and operations director.

Brown joins KinKind with 25 years of experience handling senior sales executive roles in the UK and abroad at multinationals such as Reckitt Benckiser.

He spoke to Retail Week about how he plans to scale the brand into the retail world, its £2.3m deal with UKTV and the challenges of building a sustainable business.

Why did you think it was necessary to expand into the world of retail? And what is your strategy going ahead with this?

“We realised if we were going to make KinKind a mass brand, as opposed to more of a smaller niche brand, then we need much wider bricks-and-mortar distribution. We want to expand our business from DTC to grocery, retail, health retail and other marketplaces.

“Once we got backing from UKTV, who invested a million pounds into the company, we realised that we needed to get out there and get bricks-and-mortar distribution.

“We did some consumer research with our existing DTC consumers and found a large proportion of those consumers wanted to buy the products in supermarkets as well as online. So there was consumer demand for it already, as well as the fact that we were looking to build broader distribution.”

Do you plan on selling through retailers like Boots? Who is on your radar and who do you think will best suit you?

“There are clearly some retailers where our product is better suited than others. I think retailers that have sustainability as one of the key platforms of their business and a high propensity of eco-active shoppers are really the people that we’re looking to partner with.

“That being said, the KinKind brand is not a brand that’s targeted purely at eco-active niche consumers. We want Kinkind to be a brand that is bought by mass shoppers who care about plastic waste. Our range of shampoo and conditioner bars work just as well as premium bottle shampoo, so we aren’t limited by our product to enter any of the major grocery chains or beauty retailers out there.”

What is the brand’s vision in terms of sustainability?

“There are plastic-free haircare products that have been launched by some of the major multinationals. But for them, it tends to be a format extension, whereas for KinKind it’s the only thing that we do. We would never sell anything that wasn’t plastic-free. Our whole mission is to take plastic bottles out of the family bathroom, hence the brand name. That’s how we would differentiate ourselves from the major multinationals. Ultimately, they’re looking to preserve shelf space with bottle shampoos, be it recycled plastic

“With KinKind, we want to create a brand that the family can use, which not only takes plastic completely out of their haircare needs but also across categories. Our mission for the brand is to grow across categories with our plastic-free products. We have plastic-free body wash, body scrub, moisturiser bars – and we’ve got more plastic-free innovations to come.

What makes KinKind different to other plastic-free bath and body brands on the market?

“One of the reasons why plastic-free haircare has not really taken off in retail or supermarkets is that supermarket shoppers are not prepared to compromise on performance. And many of the independent brands that are out there aren’t as good as premium bottles.

“Where our proposition is different is that we have a shampoo and conditioner solution for every hair type. So we don’t just have a brown shampoo bar and a green one; we have shampoo and conditioner combinations for every hair type and every need. We really care about delivering the same performance as bottle products.”

pack shot

KinKind has plans to sell its products via retailers 

In terms of scaling the business, what is your plan for the next few years?

“Our conservative goal is to increase turnover eightfold by 2025. And, obviously, that’s going to take a bigger team. So we plan to bring in additional marketing, sales and logistic support.

“And the eightfold increase is down to two factors. One is TV and the impact that we hope the TV campaign will bring to the business. And the other is the thing that I’m here to develop, which is bricks-and-mortar distribution.”

What are the key challenges that sustainable businesses like yours face when it comes to retail?

“In terms of actually transforming plastic-free haircare, there are three key stakeholders that are going to make this happen. One is the government and other international bodies, like the UN, through plastic waste tax and other policies.

“The second thing is brands. We need brands to raise awareness, which is what KinKind is doing through the TV campaign and through having products that perform.

“But the third thing is it needs retailers to really get behind plastic-free and give more range and more space to really work on helping shoppers make the right decisions. That’s the big challenge that we have, getting retailers to buy into this. Hopefully, attending Retail Week Live will help us in this goal and reach out to more retailers.”