ecostore, an established sustainability leader in home cleaning and personal care products in New Zealand, is once again
expanding its global impact, this time in Vietnam. Ecostore group CEO Pablo Kraus attended the official launch of
ecostore’s first flagship store in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He was helped to open the store by New Zealand Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern who cut the ribbon. Ardern was then given a tour of the store, during a trade delegation in
Vietnam.
Kraus says Vietnamese consumers are increasingly embracing and demanding sustainability, and there is a growing emphasis
on purchasing sustainably-made and environmentally-friendly products, such as those made by ecostore, among families in
Vietnam.
“Sustainability has been a growing topic of interest to Vietnamese consumers in recent years and is increasingly top of
mind for the growing middle-class demographic in Vietnam, for whom family is the most important aspect of life and who
deeply value care for their children.
“Our ecostore values align with international perception of New Zealand: caring for people, connection to place,
integrity, trust, and safety. We have been on a mission to help families care for their homes, their health, and the
world for almost 30 years – long before it was a ‘trend’.”
Kraus says Vietnamese consumers are increasingly expecting businesses to focus on environmental protection more than
profit, noting that ‘planet before profit’ is at the heart of ecostore’s philosophy.
The new flagship will offer an in-store refillery, which will enable customers to bring their own packaging to refill
with ecostore products. Although ecostore has been offering refilleries in New Zealand for 20 years and now has 200
refilleries worldwide, it is a relatively new concept for the Vietnam market and is designed to fulfil the increasing
demand from environment-conscious group Vietnamese consumers who are seeking to reduce plastic waste, recycling, and opt
for healthier, sustainable lifestyles.
According to a Kantar report, environmental issues such as plastic waste, water pollution and air pollution are among the top five concerns
of Vietnamese in addition to food safety.
Ecostore was founded in 1993 by Malcolm and Melanie Rands: it has grown from its humble beginnings as a mail-order
business based in an eco-village in Northland, New Zealand into a business which now operates in more than 15 markets
worldwide, including Japan, Korea, China, and Singapore, in addition to its home markets of New Zealand and Australia.
The company first launched in Asia in 2014 and has been in the Vietnamese market since 2020, selling online and through
premium retailers. The opening of the flagship was delayed due to Covid.
Having opened their first ecostore flagship store in Auckland, New Zealand in 1997, the leading sustainability brand
offers products ranging from body and baby care to home care. The company is focused on continuing to expand the
footprint of its refill stations and reducing its reliance on water in its formulations, with innovations such as
concentrated cleaning refills and solid haircare bars.