Indie beauty conversation with Kankan

23 Sep 2021 --- Refill-focused beauty brand Kankan strives to make refillable beauty and personal care convenient and in doing so increase its appeal while decreasing the use of single plastics. Creating its Near Perfect range and unveiling its Near Perfect Starter Set comprising a refill can and 330ml bottle of body wash, hand wash or baby wash, Kankan seeks to offer bottles that have slight and varied imperfections on their print to avoid wasting good products because of minor aesthetic imperfections. “In use they are perfect, and by giving them a home, you are saving it from the bin and helping us be truly circular in our manufacturing operations,” the brand states.

We spoke to the company to find out more about its plans to raise the profile and popularity of refillables in beauty and personal care.

Can you tell me about your inspiration behind launching Kankan?

Kankan was born out of a frustration of ours when we wanted to make changes to our lives, to live lightly and with less plastics. Everything we tried was something of a compromise, be it in experience or quality. We thought there must be a better way.

What was missing from the mainstream beauty and personal care market that you sought to fill with Kankan?

Globally, 69% of consumers want to reduce their plastic consumption in 2021 and yet there still remain few options out there that are easy and without compromise for the user. 

Click to EnlargeSource: KanKan.We all know that refill is the way forward now. But we also know that it needs to be better and easier than the current way of doing it, in order to shift behavior towards approaching beauty and personal care in this way. We sought to offer this.

What are consumers demanding from their favorite products and brands?

Products that are cruelty-free, vegan and that contain transparent ingredients are becoming more commonplace, which is good. All of these demands are consumer-driven. New brands that have launched in the last few years which focus on innovation in packaging have also emerged due to calls from consumers. There is a demand for more conscious choices, and it is niche brands that are leading the way.

What was your inspiration behind your Near Perfect sales initiative?

Our aspiration is to move towards a circular economy. In manufacturing, we see there are less than perfect products, even when there are short runs and conscious quality control. 

With recent exposés on Amazon and others burning perfectly good products because it was either easier than reintroducing it into the supply chain or better for the brand value, we wanted to be transparent about this ‘waste’ and try to encourage openness and value in the ‘less than perfect’ product.

How does this appeal to consumers and support the wider industry?

We hope that people are beginning to see waste in a different light. Waste often means just wasted opportunity or failure to see or find value in it. Ellen McArthur says that the circular economy offers a US$4.5tr opportunity, focusing on reuse, repair, remanufacturing and sharing models. 

What did the process to launch the initiative involve, from conceptualisation through to commercialization?

In regards to the Near Perfect, it does not require much focus on process. We manufacture short runs of bottles. The rate of imperfection is around 10%. We do not throw any out, and offer these Near Perfect bottles bi-annually until we run out. 

What are the greatest opportunities to come from launching Kankan and the development of your New Perfect solutions?

The opportunity to have these conversations is wonderful, and to begin to close the loop in our own supply chain is great. We know we can always improve.

By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Journalist