Sectors: Product, Retail, Sustainability
Year Launched: 2018
Founders: Katie Gamble
Unique Selling Proposition: Customized beeswax food wraps with logos.
Strategy: Partnering with corporations to create unique and sustainable branded beeswax wraps for client and staff gifts.
Website: www.naturebeewraps.ca
Award sponsor: Acacia Landscaping
Nature Bee Wraps was founded by Katie Gamble as her final project for her bachelor of commerce degree at UVic. While it started as a small business, which she ran out of her parents’ basement, it now has a manufacturing facility with 10 employees, and has worked with corporations such as Lush, Coast Capital Savings and Le Groupe Bel. Gamble is currently in talks with a nation-wide grocery chain.
“Our custom wraps allow these companies to showcase their brand’s commitment to sustainability and reducing plastic use,” Gamble says. “Every time someone uses them, they make that association with the brand.”
The reusable wraps can be used as an alternative to plastic wrap and are known to keep food fresher longer. They typically last for nine months to a year. The handcrafted wraps use 100 per cent cotton, Vancouver Island-sourced beeswax, pine tree resin and jojoba oil.
“We worked on the formula for a year and are constantly tweaking it, trying to get that perfect balance between stickiness and pliability,” Gamble says.
While Gamble acknowledges the beeswax wrap market is close to saturation, she feels that each brand has created their own niche.
“Our story and how we began is different, but also the quality of our product and the customization aspect,” Gamble says. “We are also community driven. We do fundraisers with our products where we give the charity partners the funds to support their initiatives.”
Nature Bee Wraps has seen 700 percent growth since being founded in 2018.“I see our staff growing to 20 people,” Gamble says. “And I see worldwide sales in the next five years.”
