Fredericton Cosmetics Company Grows International Presence, Wins Community Impact Award
FREDERICTON – A Fredericton cosmetics company was recently recognized at an international trade show for its dedication to having a positive impact on its community.
Upfront Cosmetics, which offers a line of shampoo and conditioner bars free of sulfates, parabens, and synthetic fragrances, was one of five companies worldwide to be award the Community Impact Award at the NY NOW Digital Market Awards.
The NY Now Digital Market Awards recognize and honour brands who have taken the challenges of this past year and turned them into an opportunity to provide help, hope, and positivity to their community. The awards are part of the NY NOW trade show, that went virtual this year due to Covid-19. The trade show hosts around 4,000 to 5,000 exhibitors.
“Honestly, giving back is something that’s been super important to us since I started. I didn’t want to build a business that wasn’t able to help the community that’s helping me build my business,” said Upfront Cosmetics owner Alicia Sharpe in an interview with Huddle. “So giving back has just been an incredibly important part of everything we’ve done since we’ve started.”
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When Covid-19 hit, Upfront Cosmetics were able to donate $20,000 in shampoo bars (over 900) to Boys and Girls Clubs across Canada. They also donated some to New York City hospital frontline workers too. Over the last year, Upfront Cosmetics also join Joined 1% for the Planet and pledge to plant one tree for every order placed through One Tree Planet.
Though Upfront Cosmetica doesn’t do community work for the recognition, Sharpe said it does feel good to be noticed by such a big organization like NY NOW.
“It’s not that it makes it all worth it. But I really appreciate being recognized for everything that we are doing,” said Sharpe. “And we will continue to keep helping because it’s just part of what we do.”
Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sharpe said the business has faired well.
“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been kept fairly busy. A lot of our retailers we able to do either a contactless pickup method or move all of their inventory online,” she said.
“We’ve been very fortunate to still keep puttering away. We’ve been busier than ever.”
At the beginning of the year, Upfront Cosmetics products were carried in about 50 stores. Now they are in almost 180 stores across Canada and the United States, mostly in “mom and pop’ pharmacies and stores that like local products. They have as several international retailers too.
“We’re all across Canada and the United States. We have a couple of stores in Jamaica, one in New Zealand and most recently one in Hong Kong,” said Sharpe.
“We saw some really steady growth for the past year.”
Now with a solid base of smaller retail clients, Sharpe said she would like secure bigger wholesale clients, like a large grocery store or pharmacy chain.
“Really our main focus right now is getting into some sort of larger retailer,” she said. “We would really love for our bars to be available on a large scale so people can have access to safe, affordable, plastic-free alternatives.”
