What’s the origin, ethics and principles behind our products?
Nordics inspires change. In every way. Change in companies’ and consumers’ mentality, in the substances we take and give back to Nature, and change in the physical world around us. Our goal is to keep the Earth and humanity safe — without missing out on the best of quality ingredients. That’s why we wanted to tell you the story about Nordics’ ethical standards, and the origin and principle behind our products.
Our ethical standards
Nordics was born from the idea of creating sustainable and amazing products for daily oral care. Ever since, our ethical standards have been leading our business. Upholding strong principles, not only in our direct business, but throughout our entire value chain, is fundamental to how Nordics operates.
Every person at Nordics has the core mindset to take care of people’s health while also taking care of our Planet. This makes our products more efficient and strengthens our reputation as a sustainable oral care brand.
We believe that the way a company does business is as important as the quality of its products. Our ethical standards Respect, Courage, Transparency, and Fairness serve as our compass for our daily acts.
Respect
Our business influences many people’s lives and our Planet. We show respect for every drop of water invested in the production of our stock, every ounce of raw material, and every millimeter of packaging. The respect in our business starts from the privilege of using Mother Nature’s gifts and goes to each moment of dedication of our employees and partners.
Courage
Nordics’ bravery to be different made us a rising star among dental care. We rose above the ocean of conventional toothpastes and stood up for our environment. Courage means risk-taking for a cause. We took the risk of largely investing in R&D, selling at a price point above average, because of the natural substances we use, and also looking different. Nordics broke the status quo of unorthodox ways in a conservative and stiff market as oral.
Transparency
Because above all, being honest and trustworthy is the key to build a sustainable brand. Nordics is COSMOS Organic certified, and also vegan and cruelty-free. We go through these processes to give our consumers better transparency on our products to build a stronger connection.
Fairness
We believe in treating everyone equally and tolerate and accept diversity. You can see this all around our social media and marketing communication. We also guarantee fairness in every part of our supply chain, meaning that everyone gets the fair value he deserves - our vendors, partners, and clients.
The origin of Nordics products
All ingredients used in our products go through a strict process of quality supervision. We only use certified ingredients from boutique suppliers to maintain high standards and quality in our products. This of course leads to a higher cost for the ingredients we use but also helps to reduce our carbon footprint.
We don’t make compromises in quality and sustainability — and we mean it. If we can’t find a substance that stands to our standards, that means we simply don’t produce the product in mind. The extracts we use in our products are certified biological and raw materials. Furthermore, they are also vegan and cruelty-free.
Quality standard — COSMOS Organic
The COSMOS Standard is managed by the non-profit, international and independent association - the Brussels-based COSMOS Standard AISBL. COSMOS offers two signatures for cosmetic products, such as beauty and skin care products, or in our case oral hygiene products. COSMOS ORGANIC or COSMOS NATURAL always appears directly under the logo of the relevant certifier or association, so that the consumer recognizes that it is a well-known and trusted association or certifier. Furthermore, the label indicates the percentage of organic ingredients in the product. This is the percentage organic of the total product, but since some products contain a lot of water and mineral ingredients that cannot be organic, the percentage organic minus these two ingredient categories is also indicated.
Nordics bio toothpastes are COSMOS Organic certified, and as such are committed to only use high-quality raw materials for our products. That means that at least 95% of the physically processed agro-ingredients have to be organic.
It has always been our mission to use Nordics to improve people's lives. That includes taking good care of the place we all call home. We don't have the answer to every question, but we are committed to making choices that benefit our customers, employees, and the environment — from the materials we use, to the manufacturer we work with, to the steps we take to bring our products to you.
Consumer behavior in pandemics
Our lives as we know them have undoubtedly changed, and we all know that the COVID-19 pandemics has brought serious changes to the economy. Not only that, but it has also changed consumer behavior:
The way people buy, what they buy, and the mindset in which they buy have changed forever. These changes have now been confirmed by several studies, which also show that the pandemic is likely to permanently alter consumer behavior and bring about lasting structural changes in the consumer goods industry and retail sector.
This means that the way companies present their products and communicate with their customers will also have to change. What specifically has changed on the consumer side as a result of the crisis?
Closeness, trust & more solidarity
Closeness and trust form the breeding ground for more mindful, social consumption and enjoyment behavior even after the crisis. The new solidarity that developed during the pandemic will shape trade and consumption in the future. This is also because a new level of solidarity emerged during the crisis, a new, self-confident "we" culture.
People helped each other, went shopping for at-risk groups, sewed mouth masks at home, and companies temporarily produced disinfectants instead of alcoholic beverages or perfumes. The pandemic makes it unmistakably clear that people cannot fight the virus and its consequences alone, but only as part of a group, as part of a society. In the future, consumer culture will focus less on goods, and more on resonant relationships.
Digitalization makes consumption more human
Technological innovations, automation, artificial intelligence and digital tools have shown their strengths in the crisis situation. They have not distanced people from one another; on the contrary, they help to be close to one another even at a distance - and also to organize consumption. Supply chains have been optimized in a very short time, Click & Collect saves time when shopping, and bicycle couriers will continue to provide local and fast last-mile delivery. Many will not want to miss the convenience of ordering food and groceries online and having them delivered, even after the crisis.
Naturally, people are spending more time with their digital devices during the crisis, whether smartphones, laptops or tablets, but also smartwatches. They use more streaming services, play games and communicate more with their smart speakers. People are spending much more time on social media, country specifically to varying degrees but on average social media usage has increased by about 45% globally as a result of the crisis. To stay relevant and satisfy consumer expectations, Nordics has largely focused on social media to keep a close connection with its fans. We’re stressing on useful insights about oral health, ecological consciousness and product reviews, so everybody’s well informed from a credible source.
How pandemics change consumer behavior permanently
The pandemic is expected to permanently change consumer behavior. It will also have a lasting structural impact on the consumer goods and retail industries. These are the findings of management consultants Accenture in a recent survey the company conducted among more than 3,000 consumers in 15 countries on five continents. The Accenture survey was conducted between April 2 and April 6. At the time, many countries had already called for people to stay home.
The study concludes that consumer buying priorities were changing rapidly. For example, respondents said they were buying more personal care and cleaning products, as well as canned and fresh foods, than they were two weeks earlier. At the same time, they would buy fewer fashion and beauty items as well as consumer electronics. Data shows that 45% are making more sustainable choices when shopping and are likely to continue to do so, so it’s essential for companies to start rethinking and create more sustainable solutions or alternatives for their products.
Nordics’ all about sustainability. However, we don’t compromise the hygiene standards especially at those difficult times: our toothpastes have a seal at the front, so the procust stays sterile until its first opening. Nordics mouthwash has a safety cap that must be pressed and twisted to open, and in addition is covered with a plastic sleeve. Our toothbrushes are safely sealed in vacuum bags and put in a cardboard box. That’s way we ensure that the quality that is produced in our labs is delivered on the shelves.
Availability is more important than brand loyalty
Product availability was the most important thing to consumers at the onset of the pandemic. Empty shelves and temporary stock shortages greatly affected brand loyalty. Many consumers tried a different brand or shopped at a different retailer during the crisis. People tend to buy more at the same time and build stocks, not only for food but also for oral hygiene products.
A McKinsey study found that more than 75% of consumers tried new brands, shopping locations or shopping methods during the pandemic. Value, availability and quality or organic products were the main factors for consumers to try a different brand.
This trend is not new: even before the crisis, studies noted the development that consumers are much less loyal to brands these days and are increasingly trying out new products. This trend is particularly evident among the younger generations, because they love to try new things. The crisis has only reinforced this development and the positive experiences consumers have had during this time will continue to negatively influence their loyalty to brands.
What will consumer behavior look like after the pandemic?
We can see that the crisis has brought some changes in the behavior of consumers, in all aspects of buying behavior, emotional attitude, daily challenges and basic needs of consumers:
- People spend substantially more time online: social networks, platforms, apps, web
- Consumers prefer digital communications and interactions: whether with people or machines
- Consumers will shop online more, happily in groups: social shopping
- Customers are becoming less trustful to brands: brand loyalty is waning
- Consumers values in change: people are shopping more consciously and thinking about what is essential and what is frivolous. They value sustainability, regionality and quality.
Consuming for the sake of consuming will therefore fade into the background in the future. The pandemic freed consumption to some extent from its compensatory component: The function of the act of buying as a kind of act of frustration, which one practices primarily to feel less lonely or to reward oneself, is increasingly becoming a discontinued model. At Nordics, we will continue to keep on cutting-edge and meet future consumer demands with sustainable, organic products.
What are the forbidden substances in Nordics toothpastes and why we want to be FREE of them?
We know that if you’re reading this article you're not the mainstream shopper looking for a bargain in the drugstore. Well, it’s hard to step out of the shopping stereotypic behavior. The markets around the world are flooded with goods striving to deliver low prices and better margins that often come along with compromised quality.
We, at Nordics, aim to create better opportunities for everybody to reach and buy high quality, clean label oral care products. That’s why we just said “No” to some of the most used cosmetic ingredients and took the long, but far more satisfying road of clean labels.
But what exactly is a "clean label"? This means that you won’t find “parabens, SLS, PEGs, synthetic flavors & colorants, preservatives, sugar or soy”, written anywhere on our packaging. The reason we don’t fancy those substances is simple: they have controversial effects on the human body. Even though they do wonderfully for producing a cheap, foamy, strong-flavored toothpaste with a long expiry period, we couldn’t be tempted into going that direction. Our values are superior, and we believe that well-being, safety and sustainability are better than simple good looks?
Parabens. These types of preservatives have been used for decades around the world. However, some 15 years ago, it was up against convictions that they might cause breast cancer. This was followed by a controversial discussion and at the end, parabens were marked as “generally safe". Then, and in fact, now, parabens are widely spread around the cosmetic industry, as “The World Counts” estimates. That's the key moment. Nowadays parabens are all over your cosmetic box and bathroom shelves and they begin to accumulate. Research shows that parabens have a direct relation to skin irritation, allergies, and dermatitis in children. Furthermore, there is data that preservatives hide health risks, and as scientists (Schnuch et al.) noted in 2011, “Preservatives are still important contact allergens. The introduction of new preservatives should consider the specific characteristics of occupational and of nonoccupational (cosmetic, household) exposure, and preventive measures should aim equally at both areas”.
That is why we conserve our products with natural preservatives that are harmless to our body and nature and ensure long shelf life.
SLS or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. This additive is used as a surfactant to create big and fluffy foam in cosmetic products. As we all know, foam washes away impurities, and also SLS is believed to have a mild antibacterial effect.
So far so good.
Looking at the other side, in vitro tests show that SLS slows gum healing. SLS is also an irritant that could be unpleasant for more sensitive people. In spite of this, our research shows that a fair share of users just cannot think of toothpaste without thick rich foam. That’s why Nordics portfolio offers both toothpastes containing SLS and ones using a bio-based foaming agent (Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate)
Propylene Glycol is a synthetic substance that is used in various industries, including cosmetics. Speaking about oral care, its function is to smoothen and soften the base of the toothpaste. Even though propylene glycol makes the toothpaste strip on your brush look shiny, its relation to allergies and contact dermatitis is well-documented. Also, the propylene glycol (PG) that is used in oral care products is toxic, as are other ingredients on our “forbidden” list. Even though its toxicity is low and propylene glycol is “Generally recognized as safe” by the United States Food and Drug Administration, it’s not something we want on our labels or in our customer’s mouths.
Synthetic flavors and colors are designed to recreate natural tastes and smells since extracting essential oils is expensive, time-consuming, and laborious. You would guess that the lower price plays the main role in manufacturers' decision-making. That’s far from surprising since using a purely natural scent is exclusive and even boutique practice. To continue the moral discussion, there is scientific evidence that synthetic food colorants are connected to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Furthermore, the toxic effect of synthetic food colorants is visible in the deviations of a number of health indicators, such as blood cell quantity, hemoglobin levels, bilirubin and total protein.
Well, Nordics standards cannot allow such a thing at any cost. Our appealing tastes and crispy freshness come from 100% natural flavors.
Sugar. The words “sugar” and “oral health” lay at the two opposite ends of one semantic line, but "sweet" and “oral health” go together just fine. We’ve used the perfect sweetener that not only pleases the palates but also protects the enamel from decay. Our favorite natural ingredient that has the sweetness of sugar – xylitol. It’s truly a gift from mother nature’s raspberries, oranges, corncobs, and mostly in birch tree barks.
Oral care is a huge market and you can swim in a variety of different mint tastes or color stripes. Nordics is devoted to making a well-being impact that goes beyond human-being. The essence of rejecting popular cosmetics substances and carefully selecting the ones we cherish, is a challenging and nerve-wracking process, indeed. The result, in the end, is what’s paying off and that is a healthier smile for a healthier Planet.
Thinking about New Year's Resolutions? How about doing more for the Planet?
This article is not meant to review or analyze everything that 2020 brought to the table, because maybe a whole book won’t be enough for that. All we’re going to say is that we’re most grateful for the direct and immediate lessons that our Planet has shown to humanity.
We were taught how we faint before the power of Nature, and how mighty Her healing powers are! Just in weeks, right before our eyes, we saw waters clear up, city air becoming breathable again, wild animals calmly returning to their natural habitats, and even an Ozone hole shrinking! We cannot express our awe and love towards those outcomes, and we are more inspired to continue working for Global sustainability and waste reduction. You could call that our New Years’ Resolution. We’d love to share some easy-to-follow nature-caring tips with you.
1. Take a well-informed decision when choosing a brand
Everytime you choose to buy a certain brand you’re actually sponsoring it. This sends the brand the message that it’s doing a great job and you’d like it to produce more. Last but not least, you’re also enabling that company to grow, giving it your money. Take the role of a sponsor and buy only from the companies that you truly support. Choosing a local brand stimulates a small business that’s probably producing outstanding value and boutique quality. Also, buying local dramatically shortens the money and resources spent on transportation, infrastructure, and administrative staff. All of this is calculated on your account in the end.
2. Reuse, Reduce, Recycle
Actually, this is a “back to basics” advice. Our ancestors didn’t nearly produce any waste because they were making full use of the products they could get. All of that was because of scarce resources. Now, we’re choking in the overwhelming variety of cheap goods. You’d be surprised with the uses of old packaging. You could make screws, nuts, and nails boxes from used cosmetic containers. The same application goes to jewelry or make-up storage. Find many DIY ideas for home and garden here.
Reducing your consumption of FMCG can often be healthy and money-saving. The tricky part is that this is entirely up to your awareness and will. Just think of how much food, cosmetics, and all kinds of items you currently have in your fridge, cosmetic shelf, or bathroom. You obviously didn’t need those. We propose the following 3 easy steps to consciously reduce your unnecessary consumption.
Analyze - carefully review the products in your fridge and home that have been lying around unused for some time. Obviously, this was a poor buying decision and you should memorize those items and the exact thoughts and feelings that made you buy them in the first place.
Plan - Plan the food and goods that you’ll actually use during the next few days. Don’t store. Supermarkets aren’t going anywhere. Even if you incidentally need something, it’s easy to quickly jump to the local store. That’s how you’ll always eat fresh food, save money and gasoline..
Control - The manufactured goods offer us lure and temptation. That’s probably how you’ve ended up with those unused items in the beginning. This is where discipline has to kick in. Don’t be impulsive but be wise. That’s what we’re teaching the little ones, so we should be leading the example.
3. Get yourself a beautiful reusable cup, bottle, and food box
The options are plenty. You can choose from a variety of materials - rubber, metal, glass, or even plastic. Once, there was actually no bottled water in the stores. We all brought one from home or drank from public fountains. We promise you’ll fall in love with the cute reusable cups. Be cool and hand your personal one to the bartender.
When you have a food box it gives you the liberty of buying in bulk from the supermarket. Remember the trillions of small plastic bags that are impossible to recycle? You really don’t need them if you bring jars or other storing utensils when shopping. See how Samanta does it!
4. Turn off the water while brushing, shaving, and shampooing your hair
These bad habits cost our Planet precious water that we pay to our provider at the end of each month. Remember that in the majority of places tab water is drinking water. Would you just pour our bottled water into the gutter? Well, it’s basically the same but without the plastic. A curious fact is that even though the Earth is the blue planet, only 0,5% of its water is available freshwater. What a perspective, huh?
We’re heading into the new year with those 5 eco-friendly tips and we’ll be delighted if you could share yours on our Facebook page. Stay safe.
What is the difference between "bio", "organic", "eco", "vegan" and "vegetarian" product?
Hello to all environmentally cautious shoppers and the ones who want to be so. We understand that mere goodwill is not enough to transform user behavior into a more mindful and resource-saving one.
Information is the key. Not just any information but credible one, that originates from respected sources. An "eco-friendly" user becomes such when he educates himself through carefully reading the labels and not just jumping in any pseudo-natural trend. Nowadays, marketing techniques like packaging design, brand names, or claims can be, to say the least, misleading. That's why we wanted to shed light on some of the most frequently used terms in the industry of natural cosmetics.
1. ECO
While strolling around the supermarket isles, we can see the word “eco” popping up from every other product label, whether it is bags, car accessories, bottled water, or shoes. That's because using this word has no explicit legal regulation and a manufacturer can claim it based on his interpretation or desire to sound more natural.
In fact “eco” should refer to something that is ecological and sustainable, whether is the product itself, the impact on the environment or anything else. The term “eco” should bring more of a moral value than a physical characteristic. Our honest advice is to think for a moment when you see that something is “eco” and decide for yourself if you want to be associated with it.
2. NATURAL
Claiming “natural” in cosmetics is better regulated than claiming “eco”, however there’s a lack of a universal definition or harmonized standard, as the European Commission suggests Generally, natural products are expected to be made of natural plant, mineral or animal-related substances. The guidelines of the Council of Europe define a 'natural cosmetic' as a product consisting of natural substances of botanical, mineral or animal origin, exclusively obtained through physical, microbiological or enzymatic methods, with certain exceptions for fragrances and preservatives.
3. BIO/ORGANIC
Let’s see what’s the case with claiming “bio”. Let's first say that "bio" and "organic" are two different words for one and the same thing. Thankfully, one cannot simply print those on his label or promote them around in ads. Bioproducts have to be certified by a registered third party that strictly examines the applicant product, the origin of raw materials, and their documentation. Also, a company has to pay to receive a bio certificate after it has proven the actual usage of biomaterials in the products' recipe. Having a bio certification is the actual filter for evaluating a real eco-friendly brand from a sham.
There are several bio stamps that you should be on the lookout for.
ECO CERT COSMOS ORGANIC is the highest level of bio certification one can get. It includes several high standards such as all ingredients being from natural origin, at least 95% of the plants the product contains to be organic, absence of petrochemical ingredients, recyclable packaging, and more. That is why Nordics chose this particular certification for its organic line of toothpastes.
This certificate is called “Organic Agriculture Europe” and it’s created for agricultural raw materials and food products. The certified food has a long checklist to cover with requirements such as conservation of soil fertility, respect of natural cycles and animal welfare, and absence of the use of chemical and synthetic products. This sign also means that the food or raw material is compliant with the EU organic regulation EC 834/2007.
This is the certification for the US, proving that your personal care products, food, crops, or livestock are organic. This stamp is regulated by USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and can be granted only by an approved certifying agency that audits the company regularly. Here again, a strict list of requirements needs to be covered. For example, for can see USDA’s full list of banned and allowed substances in organic crop and livestock production.
FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council® and this is a certificate of Responsible forest management. FSC follows 10 principles and 70 criteria by which it manages the certified forests. These include legislation compatibility, supporting ingenious people's rights, enhancing the well-being of local communities, and preserving the ecosystems. We're introducing this important certificate because an organic product is merely satisfying without an environmentally-friendly packaging.
Now that we’ve covered how to easily recognize an actual organic product, we want to give the facts about “vegan” and “vegetarian” in the context of cosmetics.
Vegan cosmetics (or 100% Vegan) are the ones that don’t contain any animal-related ingredients such as carmine (food colorant), gelatin, honey, beeswax, lanolin (wool wax), snail extract, pearl powder (enamel whitening agent), and the list goes on. This is another claim that's not thoroughly regulated by official authorities, so basically, anybody can put it on his packaging depending on his understanding.
We want to be honest with our customers and to make them feel safe about the ingredients in our products and this is why we partner with one of the biggest and more respected vegan organisations - The Vegan Society UK. They perform a very strict audit on every product and if it covers their standard, it could be labeled as 100% vegan.
Vegetarian cosmetic products exclude animal ingredients but can contain animal by-products that don't affect the animal wellbeing such as colostrum or egg extract.
The idea behind this is that if your consumer credo is that killing animals for fur or food is wrong, then it should be the same for every product.
Well, those are the basics in recognizing true from false, vegan from vegetarian. We hope that we've pitched in your knowledge and contributed to a more informed choice next time.
