After a “soft launch” earlier this year in Arizona, Scottsdale-based Whish Body Products introduced its personal care travel kit in the U.S., Europe, China, Australia, and the Middle East. The kit contains three slender biaxially oriented polypropylene dispensers equipped with nonfoaming airless pumps supplied by Mega Pumps.
Each of the three dispensers offers customers 1.2 oz of product, one filled with Pomegranate-scented liquid body wash, one with shaving cream, and a third with body butter lotion. With a $20 suggested retail price, the products are sold in “high-end” outlets, contained within a zippered polyvinyl chloride carrying bag. The 0.5-mil bag measures 6.5x1.625x5 in., and is sourced in China.
“The airless pump that Mega Pumps provides is a unique packaging solution because most travel sets come in tubes,” explains Whish president Jesse Werner. “With the pump, you get full evacuation of product. In tubes, you can’t get every last drop out. That’s important for us, particularly with our rich shaving cream. We also have requirements from a visual aspect, and the Mega Pumps have a tall, lean look that fits our packaging goals.”
Werner says that Whish worked previously with Mega Pumps, “for our best-selling product, an ingrown hair serum that uses a smaller Mega Pump. As far as we are concerned, the Mega Pump product is the best pump we have found in terms of performance.”
The airless Mega Pumps dispensers are made with a patented, all-plastic design that eliminates the need for the use of metal components like springs and steel balls, which sometimes cause compatibility issues. Mega Pumps are engineered to suppress excess air, which protects the product from outside pollutants, helps to extend shelf life, and releases only the necessary amount of the product, to provide consistent dosing.
Werner credits Whish’s in-house art director Ronelle McKenzie for the package design on the new travel kit. “Making it airline-friendly was ‘the goal,’” he says, “so that you could place it in another clear bag and throw it in your carry on and walk through security. And each of the products is less than three ounces.” He also says the dispensers are “eco-friendly, in that they have no metal parts, so you can recycle the whole plastic [container], which we thought was pretty compelling.”
Each container does receive a nearly 360° label, although details about the materials and suppliers were considered proprietary. Werner says Mega Pumps assembles the container with pump and cap. Bottom-filling and closing, as well as case-packing functions are outsourced. He does say, “Our filler [employed] custom tooling on their line to automatically insert the piston and end cap in the process.”
Werner says the package’s uniqueness matches that of the products inside, which contain no paraben, sulfate, or DEA & TEA petrochemicals, and are all-natural and made with organic ingredients. “We consider it the only prestige shaving product to remove all the harmful chemicals like paraben and sulfates. Also, it is the only travel set that has the shaving creams specifically directed towards body shaving.”
“We believe packaging and package design is critical,” Werner says. “Package performance needs to be in line with the product performance because if you can’t dispense the product properly then it doesn’t matter what’s in the package. We really believe in the airless pumps. We think that’s the solution that customers like. It means less mess and full evacuation. It’s important when you are selling an expensive product such as ours that contains all natural, organic ingredients.”
He adds, “It is also the package’s job to sell the product, and you can’t argue with nice-looking packaging that helps achieve that, particularly in our market where the product is sold at [upscale] retailers.”
