Combining zero-waste, function, and style, HiBAR was created with the mission of reducing plastic waste in your bathroom. Nora Schaper, Ward Johnson, Jay Schaper, and Dion Hughes joined forces in 2018 after realizing they’ve all been separately exploring ways to eliminate plastic use. The team of four, who come from diverse backgrounds in body care, natural pet food, and Branding and Advertising, agreed that reducing plastic in the shower was the perfect place to start. They re-engineered how consumers wash and care for their hair by developing HiBAR, a line of solid, salon-quality shampoos with no need for plastic packaging.
After launching HiBAR, Nora Schaper signed up for RangeMe and got verified to increase their visibility with retailers. Shortly after, several retailers including, ULTA, Beauty Bridge, UNFI, and Clarkes Health reached out. Read on to learn more about HiBAR and their experience on RangeMe, current retail partners, and plans for the upcoming year.
Goodbye plastic. Hello HiBAR.
Take a second and think about the products currently sitting in your shower. Shampoo? Conditioner? Body wash? Shaving cream? You likely have at least three out of the four, and if you’re like the average person, you might have a few backup bottles.
Now think about how many of these items come in plastic. All, right?
HiBAR is changing that. “At HiBAR we’ve created the first plastic-free hair products that are certified salon-quality by the National Association for Eco-Friendly Salons and Spas,” shares Nora Schaper, Co-Founder of HiBAR. “What a lot of consumers don’t know is solid shampoo products are usually just soap, and those products have a pH balance of 7 to 9 when you should be using hair products with a pH balance of 5.”
Taking this into consideration, HiBAR developed a water-less, salon-quality, and balanced pH line of three different bar shampoo and conditioner formulas, including every day, moisturize, and volumize. So no matter a consumer’s hair type or hair needs, there are options available.
Additionally, “each HiBAR shampoo and conditioner comes in plastic-free packaging which eliminates the amount of plastic a consumer is purchasing,” Schaper says. “And because each bar is highly concentrated compared to your average bottle of shampoo, you need less of it, so it lasts longer.”
Bringing sustainability to retail shelves
With a company established, a great product developed, and an important mission to share, the HiBAR team was ready to expand its direct-to-consumer model and reach into retail. Schaper spearheaded this initiative, generating retail leads from zero-waste stores to salons, drugstores, grocers, and beauty retailers.
At her previous company, Schaper used RangeMe’s free subscription and was familiar with the platform’s potential and the ability for HiBAR to boost their visibility with new retail leads and learn about new retailers.
After signing up and creating a profile for HiBAR, Schaper upgraded to Premium in May of 2020 and got RangeMe Verified™ to further increase their reach with new retail buyers. “Our favorite tool that we get access to now is Submissions,” says Schaper. “It makes it so much easier to get in front of retailers, plus everything you need to know is right there from category reviews to retailer descriptions that help you determine if your products would be the right fit.”
Buyer connections on RangeMe
Since joining RangeMe, HiBAR has received several messages and sample requests from retail buyers at various retailers, including ULTA, Beauty Bridge, Thrive Market, iHerb, and HSN. Schaper has established deals with UNFI and Clark’s Nutrition & Natural Foods Markets and has ongoing conversations with additional retailers.
“Clark’s Nutrition & Natural Foods Markets is an independent retailer with four locations throughout California,” Schaper explains. “They picked up all three of our SKUs and even helped us open a distribution center in Southern California. It’s been a great experience working with them.”
On top of the retailers Schaper is currently conversing with, she’s been able to leverage RangeMe’s Profile Insights to see which retailers have checked out HiBAR’s profile and add those leads to her sales pipeline to pursue.
It’s the small changes that can make an impact
HiBAR has big plans in the works. They plan on launching new products that inspire people to make more sustainable changes to their lifestyles, starting with eliminating the need for plastic in their bathrooms.
Additionally, HiBAR’s team understands the importance of influencer marketing to grow a brand, especially a beauty brand. They’re launching an influencer marketing plan to promote and bring awareness to their products in a thoughtful, genuine way, while also spreading awareness of the bigger issue, plastic.
Advice to other suppliers
“Know there is a need and desire for your product and believe in it. You’ve got to keep doing what you’re doing as persistence and perseverance is key to success,” Schaper says. “You will be surprised, don’t give up hope.”