With a passion for natural products and the environment, the Terra team set out to find an alternative to the harsh chemicals used in baby wipes. Terra wipes are made from 100% biodegradable bamboo fibre, free from harmful chemicals and contain natural ingredients which are gentle on both your baby’s skin and the planet.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
It’s all about how to give our baby the best product to use and the best future for them to live in. With the first boy we had, by shopping around all over the place we couldn’t find a single brand/product that doesn’t have nasty chemicals (lots of them claim they don’t but they still do). Plus, by reading lots of articles about how polluted our world will become, that’s really impacted me quite a lot – is there a future left for my boy to grow up in?
The Launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
We had been talking to lots of parents around us about the idea – to have something 100% natural and environmentally friendly. They all seemed to have the same issue and couldn’t find such a product available. Then we expanded our research to the wider audience. Out of the 374 people we asked, 78% would choose something really good for their baby and the environment, and cost was no longer a concern.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
After lots of research, we found out that despite people’s claims, there has to be a preservative used in baby wipes and that simply any cloth when wet will grow mould. It took us two years to hunt for a preservative that was truly made organically – That took us all the way to Japan to find the ancient way of naturally preventing food from going bad. And with the millions of tests we did, we finally found the best combination to create true, natural-based products.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
It requires a lot of travel for me, and with a newborn boy who I really don’t want to miss any time with. So, we end up travelling together most of the time — he really enjoys playing with my test tube and uses it to mix all these natural ingredients.
