Cleanery made its way to Australia from its native New Zealand earlier this year, launching into select Woolworths stores. It will also soon be ranged by a “leading” Australian pharmacy.
The brand, which aims to reinvent the cleaning category with its “truly effective” and “genuinely sustainable” products, says they’re delivered as a sachet of powder that is mixed with water at home.
“This eliminates the need for single-use bottles and the emissions, hassle and cost of shipping bulky packaging and water around the world,” says the brand.
The sachets of plant and mineral based formulations are claimed to use 99% less plastic than traditional single-use bottles.
Cleanery was developed in 2020 by Auckland-based Ellie Brade and Mark Sorensen, with the range piloted in New Zealand receiving “outstanding” customer feedback.
In 2022, Cleanery’s ambition to take a leadership position in sustainable cleaning has inspired the brand to head to Australia.
“Since launching in Australia,” says Mr Sorensen, “we’ve received positive feedback from retailers as well as customers, who have reached out to us to share their stories of being converted to the Cleanery range after having tried it.”
With “genuine” focus on delivering an “eco-friendly” solution for everyday cleaning, Cleanery’s product range is said to be vegan, cruelty free, biodegradable and septic tank safe, and free from solvents, silicones, parabens, phthalates, dyes, phosphate, chlorine, ammonia and GMOs. The “competitively priced” product range includes multipurpose, kitchen and bathroom cleaners as well as reusable bottles.
While addressing the global problem of packaging waste, Cleanery products are also said to have been tested for efficacy in real-world situations and outperformed “market-leading” dissolvable tablets, eco-cleaners, and traditional cleaners. The head-to-head test resulted in Cleanery “topping the table” with the brand’s multipurpose cleaner “easily” cutting through tough baked-on carbon and oils that represent “hard to clean” soils consumers might encounter at home.
“We all know customers care about the world we live in, want to reduce their environmental footprint, and worry about excessive packaging and waste,” says Mr Sorensen. “But they’re also tired of products that don’t work and are overpriced. It seems obvious, but cleaning products need to clean. And this is where Cleanery shines: the cleaning performance is awesome and the price is right. Consumers can switch to sustainable products without compromise.”
Cleanery has extended its “eco-conscience” to its manufacturing process. Ingredients for Cleanery products are “ethically and responsibly sourced”, and the sachets are also fully recyclable. In addition, Cleanery’s “low waste/low emissions” factory is claimed to consume around the same amount of energy as a family home, and the brand uses only sustainable postage and packaging options.
Cleanery’s powdered formulation comes in “low waste” 16g sachets. Using an everyday spray bottle or one of Cleanery’s glass and sugar cane-derived bottles, users tip the contents of the Cleanery sachet into the bottle, fill it with 500ml of warm water, and shake it before use.
What’s next
Looking ahead, Cleanery expects to expand distribution, spreading into more stores and retailers across Australia in 2023.
“Our goal is to convert Australian consumers to [using] sustainable products,” says Mr Sorensen.
“We have a pipeline of products in the works, such as a toilet cleaner, glass cleaner, and floor cleaner. We’re also introducing a range for commercial users.”
He adds that Cleanery is expanding into the personal care market, developing a hand soap that it will be selling online in Australia later this year.
This article is published in the November issue of Retail World.