São Paulo – Brazilian company Biowash produces biodegradable cleaning products made with 100% natural inputs to households and business venues. The brand from Jarinú, 77 km from São Paulo, sells in the domestic retail market and is now planning to expand abroad.
“After ten years, our distribution in Brazil is well structured, so we can now pay more attention to the market abroad,” said to ANBA Becky Weltzien, the current owner of the company founded by her father, the German immigrant Malte Weltzien, in the early 1980s, then with the name Cassiopeia.
The mention to the ten-year period is because the Biowash product line began to be distributed to stores in 2007, before that the products were sold in bulk and door-to-door.
According to her, a batch should be shipped to the United States soon for a market test. However, the business owner pointed out that she’s also interested in exporting to the Arab market. “We even exported some products back in 2008, but then the crisis hit in the United States and we decided to better structure our operations in Brazil,” she stated.
Some of these exports went to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to natural products outlets. “The market is very interesting to us, since there’s consumers with environmental awareness and purchase power,” she said.
Weltzien remarks that her products are petroleum-free – oil-based inputs very common in the industry – and that the inputs used are not of animal origin or tested in animals, that is, they are suitable not only to environmentally conscious consumers but also to vegans.
The items are also hypoallergenic and certified by the IBD (Biodynamic Institute) for natural products. The product line includes dishwasher soups, washing soups, stain removers, glass cleaners, bathroom cleaners, degreasers, general cleaning products and concentrated products in five-liter gallons.
The main inputs used are coconut fatty acids and, according to Weltzien, there are only two suppliers of these inputs, therefore her products are more expensive than the traditional ones. She said that the consumers of her brand are seeking not only cleanliness and that they have other concerns, with the environment, with a more sustainable way-of-life or have developed allergies to the traditional products.
The Jarinú plant has a ten-people staff and is the brand’s only producing plant. It produces from 8,000 to 10,000 liters per month but, according to Weltzien, the plant has the capacity to increase this production five-fold. “We will begin exporting, if the demand increases we cam hire more people, buy more machinery. Currently, our production allows us to meet the demand of niches, of loyal consumers,” she said.
Those interested in getting to know the products, she added that the company will attend the next edition of the trade expo of the São Paulo Supermarkets Association (APAS), scheduled for May 7 to 10 at Expo Center Norte, São Paulo, in the pavilion of the Organics Brasil project. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce will also have a stand in the expo to host Arab importers and exhibitors.
Contact
Biowash
Becky Weltzien
Phone: 55 11 4016-4160 / 4059
WhatsApp: 55 11 9 4192-2015
Email: bw@biowash.com.br
Website: www.biowash.com.br
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
