Hungarian laundry product aims at international success

A startup initiative of young Hungarian professionals enters the local market of laundry products and detergents. At first, the 100% Hungarian products will be sold in TESCO stores, then, according to plans, they will also be available in other retails chains.

In a couple of days, Hungarian consumers will experience something new: a special, uniquely designed, innovative, eco-friendly and appealing line of laundry detergents and fabric conditioners named Souldrops will be available in one of the biggest chain stores in the country. The goal of the young researchers, developers and owners of the 100% Hungarian enterprise is not only to offer highly effective laundry products at affordable prices, but also want to challenge similar products of the biggest multinational companies. The new line of detergents equally aims to attract price sensitive shoppers and young adults and families, for whom eco-friendliness, design, and unique and innovative appearance are important. The startup company that develops the products, which are available at TESCO from the first days of March, was able to initiate operations with the help of the Startup Program of Hiventures Public Venture Capital Fund.

‘Souldrops: affordable price, outstanding quality’. These are the promises of the personnel of the 100% Hungarian-owned startup, established with the aid of Hiventure’s capital. After lengthy research and development, the new line of laundry products and detergents are already under production: the developers, Gábor Gyimóthy, Richárd Bóna and Ádám Lukács are not only managing of the enterprise, but have been working together on different technological and chemical development-related tasks for more than a decade. In their research environments, the professional team had worked on different well-known products’ recipes, on the development of many household chemicals, and on finding solutions to problems in multiple areas of environmental protection. “We don’t only have families, but we’re enthusiastic environmentalists, too. The environment our children will grow up in is something that’s important for us. Our philosophy is that the responsibility we feel for our living environments and nature does not begin with the decisions of customers – it begins much earlier. Our opinion is that manufacturers are responsible for what you find in bottles. In other words, responsible thinking begins in our workplace, that is, in the laboratory!” said Gábor Gyimóthy, chemist, leading researcher of Souldrops.

Hungarian laundry product market

„How does the Hungarian laundry product market look like? Currently, there are no products of Hungarian manufacturers on the local market. One can only find the products of 3-4 multinational companies, and own products of retail chains. However, the biggest problem is the lack of innovation. Today, the creativity of our competitors can only be traced in coming up with attractive slogans,” said Richárd Bóna, managing director of Souldrops.

In the beginning, the professionals of Souldrops developed laundry products and detergents for the B2B clients of their enterprise – mostly for hotels. They started the development of their own brand, the negotiations with future business partners, and the preparations of production and sales only after the development of the product portfolio and business strategy, and after reaching out to seek for potential target markets. The new products are only available in Hungary yet, but according to the plans, they will be sold in the Visegrád Four country, that is, in Polish, in the Czech, and in Slovakian stores, too. Upon entering the retail market, the universal detergent and its three recommended fabric conditioners were emphasized. „Besides that we are happy that we’re taking part in the development of a Hungarian enterprise that’s useful for the society, as financial investors, we have high expectations of the new startup company. According to our plans, Souldrops will reach 1% market reach, and in the second year of its operation, its operation will make profit,” added Kornél Kisgergely, CEO of Hiventures, a part of the Hungarian Development Bank.