Jomingo is a Singaporean brand that offers a range of natural deodorants in biodegradable paper packaging founded by Tan Jing Jun, who has a background in digital marketing.
Tan developed the product after experiencing a reaction to conventional deodorants.
“I wanted to create my own natural deodorant because I broke out into rashes one day while I was still using conventional deodorants. I couldn’t find many options available locally and had to get it shipped from the US,” Tan recounted.
This prompted Tan to formulate her own natural deodorant and she used the business idea as part of a capstone project for her master’s degree.
It quickly became clear to her that her product filled an important gap in the market as she found out that many people had experience the same type of rashes.
“When I started out selling natural deodorants at roadshows, I got very positive responses. The thing about Asia is not many people use deodorants but those that do are looking for a natural alternative,” said Tan.
She believes the shift in consumer attitudes about personal care products will drive more companies – especially the large multinationals – to innovate in this area.
“Consumers are becoming more particular about what they put on their skin and especially their underarms because there are so many lymph nodes in that area. Given this trend, I won’t be surprised if more big companies will go into a more natural direction with deodorant.”
In 2017, Proctor and Gamble acquired natural deodorant brand Native for an undisclosed amount to round up its deodorant portfolio. About a month later, Unilever that was acquiring Schmidt’s Naturals, another big name in the natural deodorant space.
Tan told CosmeticsDesign-Asia, that she welcomed more players as it would raise awareness about natural deodorant, especially in Asia.
“The business was a struggle when I started. Because lot of Asians don’t use deodorant, so I had to raise awareness while building a brand… Bigger brands have bigger marketing budgets that can create more awareness about natural deodorant I look at it as a win-win situation for us all.”
Tan added that she does not expect to see natural deodorants in the mass market any time soon as she believes it will take a longer time for large companies to transition into the natural space.
In the meantime, she is leveraging on her digital marketing experience to continue advocating the benefits of natural deodorant.
Additionally, the brand holds pop-up stores in universities to capture younger consumers.
“Generally, the younger generation is becoming more eco-conscious because they know how climate change is affecting and will continue to affect their lives. These people are more open to using new brands that have values that are beneficial for health and the planet.”
Currently, Tan is looking to expand the business into Malaysia, where she can tap into the burgeoning halal beauty market.
“Our products are totally vegan. We use plant-based ingredients and it’s not tested on animals. By expanding the business into Malaysia, I’m hoping to capture the halal market because there’s a lot of opportunities there.”
