Longtime entrepreneurs, Charlotte Catton and Franck Ladouce wanted to develop an eco-responsible, uncompromising, made in France, project dedicated to all the everyday household products, with organic formulas and sustainable packaging solutions, refillable at will.

"We carried out an in-depth reflection on the choice of the bottle, without immediately finding the right available solution among standard eco-design materials. Our meeting with Verescence was decisive. Their safety glass technology can safely bring the glass material back onto bathroom shelves. This is one of the major innovations of our brand," explained Charlotte Catton, co-founder of the brand.

This patented technology, developed by the world leader in glass containers, consists in applying a thin layer of polymer on the glass to absorb shocks, or in extreme cases of breakage, to keep the broken pieces in an envelope.

"The product retains all the properties of glass, namely a total recyclability, transparency, a premium appearance, a compatibility with formulas, while offering increased shock resistance," confirmed Samuel Joachim, Innovation and Development Director at Verescence.

The bottles are translucent with a frosted effect so as to partially mask the pump, with an amber colour for household products and a white frosted colour for personal care products.

"We had to adapt some of the formulas to make sure they were fit for this type of packaging. Toothpaste, for example, comes in a small frosted glass pump bottle. Its formula, necessarily more fluid, however, holds on the toothbrush," underlined Charlotte Catton.

Safety tests confirm results equivalent to that of toys for children from 0 to 3 years old and a validated mechanical resistance and decorability. "The securing aspect of glass is one of the product’s main communication arguments, supported by factual control data performed by a bailiff," confirmed Franck Ladouce.

An out of the ordinary collaboration for a unprecedented launch

Both the brand and the service provider underline the technical and human commitment dedicated to this innovation. "It was exciting for a small structure like ours to be able to collaborate with an industry player of this size. From the marketing department to technical services, everyone got involved in our project," highlighted the founders.

"The What Matters concept is fully integrated in Verescence’s ’Glass Made to Last’ CSR approach. It embodies the next step in eco-designed packaging, in connection with the ’Glassification’ trend and the growing interest for refills", added Astrid Dulau-Vuillet, Group Communications And Marketing Director.

The entire What Matters range will be available online in the course of April on www.what-matters.fr, including the eco-refills, delivered according to the users’ consumption, using a simplified purchase support system after placing the order via a text message. Based on the same concept, the start-up also aims to develop a BtoB offer.