In conversation with ecostore

We speak with Pablo Kraus, Managing Director of ecostore. Their ethos is to create hardworking, highly effective products for people and their home, removing harmful or unnecessary chemicals and allowing them the opportunity to live clean.

What was the initial vision for starting ecostore?

ecostore was founded by Malcolm and Melanie Rands on New Zealand’s Northland coast in 1993. The Rands lived in an eco-village, nestled in a valley dotted with streams and surrounded by native forest. They set out to make their home as clean and green as the land they called home, and created their own household products which suited their sustainable lifestyle and allowed them to reuse the water throughout their eco-village. By creating hardworking, highly effective products for people and their home, the ecostore ethos has always been to put people’s health first and give them the choice to live clean.

From one New Zealand family to another, the Rands passed the baton onto my family, the Kraus family, in 2013. Today we continue to proudly develop our range of home, body and baby products which are safer for you and our world.

Can you please share the main message that ecostore stands by?

Safety is at the forefront of ecostore’s purpose, and is why we stand by the principle: safer for you, your family and our world. We make it easy to choose safer, effective products to care for your family – made with respect for the environment. That’s why our products are cruelty free, and made from naturally derived ingredients, selected because they are safer and more sustainable.

What type of products does ecostore feature?

At ecostore we offer a range of trusted home, body and baby care products, spanning from laundry liquid and dishwasher tablets, to toothpaste and hand wash. Our hardworking and effective products are made from carefully selected plant and mineral-based ingredients, chosen for their safety and efficacy. When formulating our products, we use the precautionary principle: if there is any doubt about the safety on an ingredient, we seek a safer alternative.

What is your favourite product from the ecostore range?

After the challenges 2020 has faced, my current favourite product is our hand wash. We’ve recently launched a stylish new 425ML hand wash pump, which looks great on my bench top, but also cleans hands without drying out skin. Our hand wash formulation includes hydrating harakeke (New Zealand flax) which naturally seals in moisture for soft, hydrated skin. As a father with young kids, it is reassuring to know that my family can safely use our hand wash without irritation or dryness.

Can you detail ecostore’s sustainability and environmental practices?

At ecostore we have the goal of becoming the world’s most trusted and sustainable home and body care brand. We endeavour to achieve this by maintaining the highest environmental standards across our range. Our manufacturing facility in New Zealand is the first in Australasia to be certified altogether as CarboNZero, ISO9001 (Quality Management), ISO14001 (Environmental Management), and Enviromark Diamond – the highest New Zealand level of environmental accreditation.

Our products are packaged in FSC certified cardboard, which promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Where cardboard packaging is not an option, our bottles are made from sugar plastic and recycled plastic. Using plastic made from sugarcane instead of petrochemicals lets us capture CO2 from the atmosphere rather than releasing it, while incorporating recycled content helps keep this valuable material in the loop and reduces the need to create new plastic. This mix creates durable bottles, uses less energy and resources, and cuts down on the amount of plastic in our environment.

Our products are made from carefully selected plant and mineral-based ingredients. We’re continually innovating to improve our products to achieve the highest health, safety and performance standards. We use trusted international resources such as the EWG Skin Deep® Cosmetic Database to help us assess the safety of every ingredient, and ensure our products are the safest available. Since ecostore began, we’ve had customers tell us that after using our products their eczema has cleared up, their asthma is getting better, they don’t sneeze when they’re cleaning their home, or their skin rash has gone.

Can you list some of the benefits of using ecostore products?  

I love using ecostore products in my own home as I know that each product is safer for my family and I, whilst also being safer for the environment. When choosing ecostore products, you are choosing products which are cruelty free and plant and mineral-based. Products which are made without harm to the environment, and packaged in sustainable bottles. ecostore aims to make it easy for you to make a sustainable choice in your home, by choosing products from a brand you can trust.

What’s next for ecostore?

At ecostore, we are constantly innovating and are driven to pave the way for more sustainable and environmentally friendly products and business practises. We aim to make our products as accessible as possible, and will be launching more innovative products and services to Australians soon.

For more; visit ecostore.com/au