MOVING As we look back on another year dominated by Covid, we also look forward to what 2022 will bring including the return of gift fairs and new product launches and ventures.
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hen 2020 was coming to an end, we couldn’t wait for the new year and make a fresh start. But 2021 wasn’t much better as the pandemic continued to cause havoc for many businesses with restrictions remaining in place for most of the year. However, instead of dwelling on all the bad stuff that happened this year, and there’s plenty of it, there were some good things as new businesses were launched, others were sold and some celebrated major milestones. Dionne Taylor spotted a gap in the market during the past Covid year when she launched Shmoist, a hand sanitiser and moisturiser in one. “We launched Shmoist in March 2021 in the midst of our 10 giftguideonline.com.au
lockdown,” she explains. “We have seen tremendous growth from a retail standpoint and are now in 300 stores nationally. We identified that travel would come back and knew that customers loved the Aussie made element of our brand, so we invested time and money into the creation of two new fragrances which have a strong providence connection to Australia. “In November this year we lunched G’Day (Kakadu Plum) and Byron Babe (Aussie Native Rosalina) and took a more therapeutic fragrance approach. This has sold really well and has opened the doors for us to sell at the airport through luxury beauty retailer Amuse for any outbound passengers in Terminal 2. “We are currently working on
expanding our range which will launch in Q1 next year, and focus on our hero fragrances for other daily use products. Watch this space,” she enthuses. With people wanting to live more sustainably and having a positive impact on the lives of those that make their clothes and accessories, entrepreneurs Fabi Alvarez and Vlad da Cunha knew it was the right time to launch their social business, Akili, which offers ethical and sustainable products to conscious consumers in Australia. “This year has been packed with difficulties and corresponding opportunities,” explains Alvarez. “International freight has been incredibly challenging for businesses importing into Australia during multiple Covid outbreaks. However, these difficulties
provided us with an opportunity to offer store owners quick deliveries with low minimum order quantities for unique, ethically handmade items produced overseas. For example, Akili’s basket bags ethically handmade in Tanzania with Miluli Grass have been incredibly successful. “In 2022, Akili is looking forward to expanding its vegan product range. We noticed an ever-growing opportunity to serve customers wanting to reduce their carbon footprint with environmentally friendly products.” Another ‘side effect’ from Covid was the working from home trend and while many people are enjoying the fact they can work from home and don’t have to commute to work, for small businesses it is not that easy to