Bampoo
Bampoo is a social enterprise aimed at reducing plastic pollution and providing low income families with nappies that are better for the planet.
Founded by Amee Ritchie and Jake Elliott-Hook, Bampoo has recently received funding through the Firstport Start It fund – which helps early stage social entrepreneurs to get their ideas up and running.
We caught up with social entrepreneurs Amee and Jake to see how their social enterprise began.
What was your inspiration for starting up Bampoo?
After we launched our first business S’wheat – an eco-friendly homeware brand which creates reusable, plant-based products in order to reduce single use plastic bottles. We learnt that one of the other biggest polluters to our planet is babies nappies, a whopping 3 billion nappies end up in landfill every year in the UK. We quickly realized that disposable nappies have a huge cost, both on our earth and to our pockets.
As the amount of children living below the poverty line increases we realized that many parents cannot afford nappies and are relying on foodbanks and baby banks to support them. That’s when we decided to use 100% of our profits to provide these families with our plant-based nappies.
What did you find most challenging in setting up your social enterprise?
The biggest challenge we faced in setting up Bampoo was finding funding as this can be challenging for social enterprises, we were lucky enough to be supported and encouraged from Firstport from the first stage of our idea which helped us to get our product and IP developed in order to prepare for launch.
What are your plans for the future of your social enterprise?
We are very excited to launch Bampoo in the coming weeks, we plan to scale the business quickly by retailing in large stores and supermarkets all over the UK. We plan to support as many families as possible so that parents never have to choose between the health of their baby and the health of the planet. We are also looking forward to expanding our product range with new and innovative plant-based products.
Any tips for other social entrepreneurs?
The biggest tip I have for other social entrepreneurs is to have a clear, concise vision and don’t loose sight of that. When things get difficult it is important to remember why you started and the people you are supporting in order to keep moving forward. I would recommend anyone interested in social entrepreneurship to get in touch with Firstport for advice and guidance.
Anything else you’d like to add?
We are currently looking for retailers to stock Bampoo. So please get in touch if you are interested!
If you’re interested in finding out more about Bampoo then why not visit their website, find them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter and Instagram.