Love Nature NYC’s shower gel and body lotion.

When Jared Gettinger, founder of Love Nature NYC, decided to create natural bath, body and home products, he decided to not only make sure everything he used was made in the U.S. – he wanted to make sure the brand stayed as local as possible.

Love Nature NYC is based in Brooklyn, NY, Gettinger’s hometown, where he makes his soaps, body wash, scrubs, body oils, lip balm and hand-poured candles – using only natural and organic ingredients. The products also come in a variety of scents.

Gettinger likes the fact that he knows many of his wholesale customers, as well as retail consumers, personally, so he has mainly been selling his products wholesale, to local businesses.

‘Soothing’ Touches

Gettinger also has another vision for the brand, which is: “to connect our customers to nature through our products and packaging.”

Gettinger paid a lot of attention to every detail, from the natural materials he chose for packaging to the look of the brand’s website.

“We wanted consumers to look at our products and immediately feel soothed and relaxed – and have that connection to the natural elements – and then that experience continues when they use the products,” he explains, adding, “We hired a fantastic designer to help with illustrations, and help us make that connection with the consumer through the packaging.”

Eco-Friendly Features

Love Nature NYC’s handmade soaps.

Love Nature NYC’s package design aesthetic emphasizes the use of natural materials in innovative ways. “We wanted to be as eco-friendly as possible, while reflecting a calming, approachable look,” says Gettinger.

All of the packaging is either made from recycled materials whenever possible, or recyclable. One of the candles in the line is packaged in a Kraft paperboard tube, and the other is in a Kraft paperboard carton, and both are made with recycled material.

The soaps are wrapped in recycled paper, printed with vegetable inks – for a rustic handmade look that’s also elegant and upscale.

But, being ‘green’ is also a work-in-progress, as Gettinger realizes that besides the ‘learning curve,’ there also isn’t one universal way to be the most eco-friendly, that’s right for every brand.

“Now, we’ll be offering glass bottles for our bath products instead of plastic,” he says, describing one major packaging change he wants to make. “Glass can be cost-prohibitive to ship, but we still feel it’s important to use glass to help customers more easily identify us as an eco-friendly brand.”

The Challenges

Love Nature NYC’s hand poured candle.

Gettinger has found that approaching packaging suppliers can be intimidating, but he has met a few that know how to make a start-up brand feel welcome. “It’s always really nice when you meet with a nice company that’s willing to help a small business because they understand that you may become a huge customer down the road,” he says. “Ultimately, I have found great suppliers to work with,” he adds.

Just about every part of creating this brand has been a learning process for Gettinger, but especially the package development and design, Gettinger says. “Your packaging is the way you communicate with your customer. It is so important to know how to create the message you want your brand to convey. That’s what we’ve been striving to do.”

Setting Down Roots, in Brooklyn

It’s a great time to be creating a new product line in Brooklyn, since there has been a lot of attention on the trendy borough – and its many new start-up businesses.
“We have definitely gotten a lot of publicity because of where we are based – it’s a good time to be in Brooklyn right now,” Gettinger says.

Business has been going well for the brand. “We’ve had an outstanding response to our products, and our sales have started to pick up over the past year. We’ll be promoting the brand at more trade shows in the future,” he says.

The next trade show Love Nature NYC will be exhibiting at will be NY NOW in August.