Looking to elevate your kitchen supplies, Victoria?
Innovative and creative sustainability-driven company, Nature Bee, launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their new powdered dish soap product!
What began as a school project in her parents’ basement, Katie Gamble founded Nature Bee in 2018, and has continued to push boundaries and reshape how consumers approach cleaning products and packaging.
They’re now a full-scale sustainability-driven company that produces reusable beeswax food wraps, low-waste concentrated cleaning tablets and more.
In an interview with Victoria Buzz, Gamble shared details on the inspiration and evolution of the company and their latest idea, the Powder to Gel Dish Soap—made without the toxic dyes and chemicals that we see in most dish soap products, plus the packaging is without bulky plastic.
In order to see the dish soap come to fruition, they need to be backed by funds and gauge consumer interest, which is where Kickstarter comes in.
Gamble explained that it’s a platform where creators present their ideas to the public and they can pledge money to support it.
If the project reaches the set funding goal, the creator receives the funds to bring the idea to life, while also offering rewards and/or products to the backers in return!
When asked how the product will work, Gamble noted that it’s very simple to use and will allow the reuse of your own dish soap bottle over and over again.
“Basically it’s a powdered format, you fill your bottle with water, you pour the powder in and you have your entire solution…it works the same as other dish soap,” she said.
“It’s a low-waste way of getting dish soap getting shipped around the world…just in this little compact packet.”
Gamble expressed that the idea for a dish soap came from customers asking about the best way to clean their beeswax wraps, which was the first product that essentially catapulted Nature Bee into what it is today.
“The first product that we made was beeswax wrap, so the alternative to plastic wrap…eventually we were able to connect with Camosun College and they built a machine to help us keep up with demand,” she said.
“I thought it was something people would want, and sure enough, it was. I went to farmers markets to start and we kept selling out.”
Gamble shared that her parents, knowing that this idea was a great one, really encouraged her to continue developing and growing the business.
“It was myself and two random family friends that would come for a couple of hours a day and sit in my parents basement and fold wraps, and we would watch shows. It was quite funny,” she laughed.
“Throughout Covid we grew and shrank, and grew and shrank…now we’re a team of four in-house and four contract [employees]. We have a facility out in Saanichton.”
To put it into perspective, Gamble shared that (tested and confirmed by Nature Bee’s manufacturers), one beeswax food wrap can replace up to 300 pieces of plastic, and one of their dishcloths can replace 17 rolls of paper towel!
“One small change makes a major impact,” Gamble said.
And now, with the Powder to Gel Dish Soap, they’re continuing on this environmentally-driven trajectory and hope to see it succeed.
As of this publication, they’re at $11,313 of their $15,844 goal for the Powder to Gel Dish Soap. The Kickstarter will remain open until Thursday, October 3rd at 3 p.m.
When asked what’s next for Nature Bee beyond the dish soap, Gamble said that they want to continue solidifying themselves as a brand in the market and getting into some bigger stores. Right now, they’re primarily in Canada, so she hopes to expand.
“We are making sustainability accessible to everyone.”
Nature Bee is a female-owned and operated company based in Victoria! Founder Katie Gamble is a Gustavson School of Business Alumna and a true inspiration for those hoping to jump on the sustainability train!
