FREDERICTON – Fredericton-based business Educated Beards has expanded into a more global market.
In 2019, Kevin Leboeuf and Alicia Phillips, the co-founders of Educated Beards, told Huddle their business had initially started as beard care products made for their personal use. But they quickly started to realize how many others wanted to get their hands on the products.
Although the company is still based in Fredericton, and all of its products are produced in the city, Educated Beards is picking up steam across the globe.
Late last week, Leboeuf and Phillips spoke with Huddle about their recent expansion into Poland and South Africa.
The expansion was made possible after Educated Beards received its eco certification in COSMOS organic, which Leboeuf says is the highest skincare standard in the world. Phillips and Leboeuf say Educated Beards is the first beard care company in North America to obtain this certification.
“That is why we are able to export into Europe,” Leboeuf tells Huddle. “Their skincare standards are so much higher and we meet those criteria because of those tests and certifications that we had to do, which was a two-and-a-half-year certification process.”
Due to this expansion, the company has invested in new production equipment to keep up with its predicted increase in demand. Phillips tells Huddle that since Educated Beards is now found in seven or eight countries, the new equipment will significantly help the company.
“[This new equipment] will take our scale from about 39,000 per 20 calendar days to about 900,000. So we’re about to increase our capacity really exponentially–we’re really excited about that,” she says.
Over the next year, Phillips says Educated Beards plans on expanding its product line. Some of these new products will include a new shave line and its first gender-neutral product.
“[These products] will be, of course, under the same core values as all of the Educated Beards products. So, it’s going to be safe, clean, effective, safe for the planet and the person wearing the product, any small children [or] pets,” says Phillips.
See the full Huddle story HERE.