Justin and Rachel Bernhaut, owners of Jack N' Jill. Photo: Supplied
Getting your kids to brush their teeth is a common problem for parents but not many turn it into a business that sells worldwide and turns over $8 million a year
Melbourne couple Justin and Rachel Bernhaut were working as photographers in New York when they started searching for a toothpaste suitable for kids.
We formulated it ourselves and it took a year and a lot of trips to Bunnings, and Justin swearing a lot, to get the machines up and running.
Rachel Bernhaut
"When we had kids we had the same epiphanies that all parents have," Rachel says. "They weren't interested in brushing their teeth because they couldn't stand the taste."
Justin's background is a pharmacist so further investigation revealed the reason the toothpaste "tasted like crap" was "nasty chemicals" that went into the toothpaste.
The Bernhauts decided to reinvigorate the Jack N' Jill toothpaste business, owned by Justin's father and familiar to many growing up in Australia the 1950s.
They used the Environmental Working Group and its Skin Deep database as a resource.
The database rates ingredients and the couple worked hard to ensure the all natural toothpaste has a danger score of "1", the safest rating possible.
"Back here in Melbourne there were mid-century toothpaste-making machines so we had a means to make it," Rachel says. "We formulated it ourselves and it took a year and a lot of trips to Bunnings, and Justin swearing a lot, to get the machines up and running."
The Bernhauts invested $150,000 in formulating the product, relaunching the brand and then using the original machinery to make the first 50,000 tubes by hand.
"It made a big difference that we had a brand," Rachel says. "I think in Australia there was a feel-good factor. It's such a great name that was the main thing we kept out of the brand."
But Justin says the ageing equipment was "a double-edged sword".
"What helped was my understanding of the manufacturing world and pharmaceuticals and previous experience of dealing with raw materials," he says.
The Bernhauts say they were always confident the businesss would succeed as there was such a gap in the market.
"If it was hard for us it was obviously hard for other parents," Rachel says. "Our number one thing was that it was the safest on the market, it tasted good and we could do some good branding."
From day one the couple created Jack N'Jill as a global brand, setting up websites overseas and now more than half the business' sales are generated overseas.
"We figured for the same effort we could have a global reach really," Justin says.
"I have previous experience with distribution in pharmacy and it was quite a negative experience so we decided all our efforts would be focused on building websites so we could go direct. From there it was really quite straight forward as we were approached and continue to be by retailers around the world who wanted to stock our products."
The Bernhauts say Jack N' Jill is growing at a rate of 300 per cent a year as they continue to grow the business to be "broader than just oral care".
New products in the pipeline include tooth wipes and a natural family toothpaste for older kids and adults.
"We did everything ourselves in the first few years," Rachel says. "We did it while juggling kids and we grew it really organically. The good thing is that ever since we started we have had inquiries. We have really held onto the reins and guided it, it has a life and interest in its own."
Follow MySmallBusiness on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
10 comments so far
New user? Sign up
Make a comment
You are logged in as [Logout]
All information entered below may be published.
Thank you
Your comment has been submitted for approval.
Comments are moderated and are generally published if they are on-topic and not abusive.