AlmaWin: the clear choice for allergy sufferers

More and more people are reacting to substances in detergents, cleaning materials and body care products. The number of people with an allergic reaction to perfumes or plagued by neurodermitis is rising steadily. At the same time however, the awareness that we have to take better care of our environment is also growing and this is the reason why consumers are increasingly buying products that do just that. For around 20 years, the company AlmaWin in Baden-Württemberg has been developing eco products for the specialist trade. Consumers are showing a lot of interest in its relaunched Klar Ecosensitive range that recently come onto the market. We visited the company in Winterbach and spoke to the managing director Rudolf Bund (picture).
The company headquarters (picture) and production facility for the AlmaWin and Klar brands are located in Remstal to the east of Stuttgart. About 20 years ago, the managing director Rudolf Bund recognised that there was a need for detergents and cleaning materials that do not damage the environment and are kind to the skin. He also realized that they had great potential. This was the moment when AlmaWin was born. They took over the brand Klar in 2002, and recently they have revamped and modernized its appearance. The current relaunch of the Klar range communicates much more clearly the benefits of these certified eco detergents and cleaning products. As well as appealing to the growing number of environment and health conscious customers, the products target much more than before allergy sufferers and people with a sensitive skin.

One of the principles of the firm AlmaWin-Klar is packing as much washing and cleaning power as possible into the bottle and carton. “With our eco concentrates, we don’t use any unnecessary bulking agents or additives - we only put in what is really necessary to achieve a good result. That’s good as well for our environmental performance evaluation,” explains Rudolf Bund. Sustainability is important, and this medium size business certainly keeps on demonstrating the power of innovation, an example being soap nuts. In 2006, it was the first firm to to market a liquid detergent based on soap nuts. Rudolf Bund: “We took this particular item and developed it further, so that it meets the requirements of today’s customers in terms of application and results.” The expectations of customers today and tomorrow are simply more demanding - “maximum compatibility with the environment, the washing beautifully clean, easy to use and appealing packaging.” Using its know-how and the results of research, he says that Klar has combined the positive qualities of soap nuts, being kind to the the skin and the environment, a fabric conditioner and colour protection to create innovative products. A positive side effect – by importing the basic raw material extracted from soap nuts, the Winterbach company supports small farmers in India and Nepal where the nuts are gathered in wild harvesting and then processed.

With a selection of some 25 products for washing, cleaning, rinsing and special applications (descaling, disinfecting), Klar offers a full range for the specialist trade. Bund is convinced that the brands AlmaWin and Klar are ideally positioned in the specialist trade. The products were presented for the first time at BioFach 2011, and since then there has been a continuous flow of positive feedback, with much praise and interest coming from abroad. In addition to Germany, Klar has a presence in 15 European countries plus Taiwan (France, Estonia, Hungary, Sweden, Poland, Greece, Austria, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Turkey, Switzerland, Slovenia, Ukraine and Russia). The AlmaWin brand has spread even further – for example, it has been available in Japan for the last 12 years. 35 % of the company’s production is exported, and this figure is rising. Bund is pleased with the steady annual growth rate of up to 20 %, which he regards first as confirmation of the products themselves and of the firm’s philosophy of offering “sensible products characterized by sustainability” and secondly as confirmation of his perception that “more and more people understand that we have to use resources sparingly and make more effective use of what we’ve got.” (Picture: Packaging for the second biggest market after Germany, namely France)

Interview: Mr Bund, consumers are getting the impression that over the last few years conventional detergent and cleaning materials on the market have become much more ecological. Is that impression correct? Some things have certainly improved but if we look at the total range of products available, ecology and compatibility with the environment are, on the whole, still very superficial. It’s true that in the period since we entered the market the awareness of the industry, the trade and of consumers has changed, with all of them showing more interest in health and environmental issues. Nevertheless we still have a long way to go, and what I would like to see is the industry making more effective and sustainable use of the possibilities – for the sake of both the environment and the consumer. Unfortunately, we don’t have a generally accepted definition of the term “ecological” for detergents and cleaning materials, so there are lots of interpretations and, in consequence, a big grey area exists. The best guide for the consumer is the Ecogarantie logo that ensures compliance with the highest eco standard. You have several competitors in the eco detergent and cleaning materials market. What makes the redesigned Klar product range stand out from all the others? From an appearance point of view, we’ve tried with the relaunch to let the zeitgeist speak in the packaging. Fresh, clear and transparent are characteristics we attribute to the brand. Thanks to the absence of perfumes and by not using superfluous and frequently health-damaging ingredients, we’re also increasing our appeal to allergy sufferers and the group of people who have sensitive skin. All Klar products are manufactured in accordance with the strict standards of the Belgian eco certification Ecogarantie, in other words the products contain no synthetic ingredients, no oil-based chemicals and no gene technology. Wherever possible, the plant-based ingredients come from controlled organic farming. What’s more, in relaunching the Klar range we’ve had all the products dermatologically tested and the most important basic detergent agents have also been tested for compliance with the guidelines of the German Allergy and Asthma Association (DAAB) - and the outcome was successful. The range of logos – Ecogarantie, DAAB, vegan, dermatologically tested, perfume-free - means for the consumer transparency at a glance. By declaring all the ingredients, including even the INCI nomenclature, consumers know immediately what ingredients a product contains. We regard that as very important. The Klar range is the result of a long process. In 1997, we were the first to carry out research with the University of Witten into dermatological problems associated with detergents and cleaning materials. At the time, people thought were were a bit odd, but today they’ve changed their minds. It simply takes time to root discoveries and innovative ideas based on them in the market. Where is this journey taking you – what tasks do you see ahead? First, the staus quo: we feel comfortable with the specialist trade. Here we find both retailers and customers with expertise and conviction. However, with our contemporary packaging design, complete transparency with regard to ingredients and certified eco quality we want to appeal in the future not just to committed frequent organic buyers but also to new target groups like Lohas consumers (Lifestyle of health and sustainability). With regard to the conventional competition, we’ll continue to strive to be the leader in terms of ecology and in defending our technical edge. Working together with the specialist trade, we want to strengthen and maintain our position. To do that, we’ve got to remain innovative, to communicate and and to be prepared to take risks. Challenges in the future are securing raw materials, constantly improving our formulas and communicating a clear philosophy and brand message. In all of this, the serious eco logos like Ecogarantie will play a significant role, because quality has to be verifiable. The consumer should be able to experience and know for a fact that our products are different and better. We’re bringing together innovation, ecology and health.

Tip: www.almawin.de, www.klar.org, www.biobelle.terranatura.de