Bloomtown: Ethical, Palm Oil Free Skincare

Bloomtown, an ethical beauty and skincare brand that doesn’t use palm oil, has been granted £48k by BIG Productivity to help drive the business forward.

Palm oil has been getting attention as a serious problem for the environment — with deforestation, destruction of habitats and further endangerment to already endangered species being the primary concerns.

Add the problems with worker exploitation and a key ingredient in 50% of all supermarket products you buy, and it starts to look like something we should be avoiding.

Although palm oil can be farmed sustainably, and ethically, it’s got a long road ahead before that happens. Brands, like Bloomtown, have opted in for a palm oil free approach — no palm oil, no deforestation or exploitation.

Founded in 2016 by Preyanka Clark Prakash and Medwin Culmer, a couple who lived in Bali, Indonesia for two years – who saw the deviation that the palm oil industry has caused there, Bloomtown is an independently certified, palm oil-free body and skincare company.

The brand gained massive exposure after they appeared on Dragons’ Den. Although they weren’t successful in getting investment, they did walk away with a larger consumer presence, plenty of support from customers and a clearer idea of what should come next.

“The entire Dragons’ Den experience was so useful to us and we had great feedback about the potential of our brand. We had a much better idea of what we needed to do to grow and more than 30% of our current customer base was because of the Programme.”

Preyanka Clark Prakash, Co-Founder of Bloomtown

The newly found demand nearly doubled their sales, leaving them needing money to increase production to keep up. They applied to BIG Productivity, a £3.1m fund that supports small to medium sized businesses, in Cornwall, with grants ranging from £2,500 to £150,000 to help boost productivity.

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BIG Productivity agreed to support the brand with a £48k grant, which will allow Bloomtown to increase production and fund further expansion of the business.

BIG Productivity is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by Cornwall Development Company.

“Bloomtown have built a great business and they are making the most of the national exposure and advice they received through Dragons’ Den. As well as brand development and product expansion, our grant will enable them to buy new equipment so that they can produce bigger batches and transform their productivity.

Anna Staevska, Programme Manager at BIG Productivity

You can get Bloomtown products in a number of high profile stockists, including: Monsoon, Not On The High Street, National Trust, Eden Project and the Royal Horticultural Society. Alternatively, you can buy directly from their website.

You can find out more about Bloomtown, or shop their products, here.

You can also get more information on BIG productivity, and see if your business might be eligible, by visiting their website here.