Everything is designed to be used once, and then discarded. It would be great if everyone could not use single-use plastic for their products, but unless consumers revolt, that will not change anytime soon. According to the Journey of a Toothbrush short documentary, most people go through 300 toothbrushes in their lifetime. There is a pile of plastic.
My husband and I started this company effort. He was an industrial designer and he was working with different materials and different gadgets. He told me about the idea of using a disposable toothbrush in your hotel for three minutes and then throwing it away, which is nonsense.
Some companies are trying to make these disposable products less of an impact. Life without plastic makes wood and bamboo toothbrushes. Eco Roots makes dental floss from bamboo. Lots of people are doing it. A Ukrainian company announced it is entering the retail market. Effa, which makes toothbrushes out of paper, just announced a disposable razor made mostly of paper, and is preparing to offer a number of other products as well.
The toothbrush made by Effa is made of paper. The brush head is made of PBT nylon, the same material as the Bamboo brushes, which can be made from recycled plastic bottles. You can separate the head from the body after using the company's approach to recycling. The company also makes a razor made of the same materials as the toothbrushes, with different heads for separate recycling.
A lot of companies we work with want to have their logo on the products, so we are creating a white label brand. Kichuk says that they want to show their support for sustainable startup. We started shipping a month ago. We have made 2.6 million sales for toothbrushes in the first year we have been in business, and we have shipped our first batches to retail shops all over Ukraine. We have orders in Korea, Europe, and Ukraine, but we are looking for new customers in the U.S. market. We want to create a brand, not be a manufacturing company. America is the best place to start a brand.
The company was originally focused on travel, and has made sales to a number of high-profile clients, according to the company's founders. The company decided to pivot to the retail market in its native Ukraine after the Pandemic hit, and will be launching in local grocery chains soon. The company is trying to find more distribution for its products.
The way the products are designed makes them feel sturdy and good to use, even though they look and feel like regular paper. It is easy to recycle the paper handle and head. The image is called Effa.
Kichuk is happy to be asked why the company is called Effa. It is named after a butterfly that dies in one day. Our ultimate goal is to replace those disposables. We want to replace plastic disposables in the medical industry. Plastic toothbrushes are not allowed in prisons. Along with working with social organizations like the Red Cross, we want to bring our social mission there as well. We are ready to ship up to 4 million pieces in the next year, and we need to start growing our team.
The company consists of six people, including the husband-and-wife CEO and CMO team, a marketing person, a salesperson, and an R&D department.
Anna Sulim is the company's marketing and PR manager. We are a small team, but we work around the clock to fulfill this mission.
