Our journey from kitchen lab dreams to a certified organic reality
The growing years: from babies to adults
In 2000, our founders, siblings Siew Peng and Kian Kheng (KK) Soo made a decision to leave their secure careers and take a leap of faith. KK was a chemical engineer while Siew Peng was Chief Financial Officer with a Fortune 500 company. Together, they shared a dream: to create a brand that will be as sustainable as it is successful; and to grow a business that will be aligned with their own ethical convictions.
So with their complementary skill sets, a lot of hope and a modest capital, the company formally began operations... in Siew Peng’s kitchen! Unused pots and pans were put to good use by KK as he set up his first R&D lab and workshop. After months of intensive research, trials, re-trials and fine-tuning, the pilot range of products was rolled out with a baby oil, lotion and bath wash. This humble offering was to become the seeds of our flagship brand, known today as Buds Organics, the world’s largest collection of certified organic babycare products. Over the years, our organic family grew and we were able to diversify our product ranges to cater for the needs of babies, kids and adults.
As a family business, we understand the need for complete peace of mind. Our co-founder KK Soo’s children were born with highly sensitive, eczema-prone skin conditions. When doctor after doctor could only prescribe potentially harmfu steroid-based creams, he was deter- mined to find a natural yet effective solution. This resulted in our highly acclaimed Super Soothing range, one of the bestsellers in the Buds collection.
Having achieved success and proven results in our Buds products, Dr Buds Organics was born out of our customers’ requests for similarly potent products targeting these conditions in adults.
Inspired by ancient remedies,the Dr Buds collection features powerful key actives that have now been clinically proven to solve the specific skin and scalp conditions we are targetting. They have been brought together in the most effective way to calm irritation, relieve itch, heal, protect and strengthen your skin and scalp.
When just ‘organic’ is just not good enough
As a fledgeling in the vast organic products market, Siew Peng and KK knew that the company would have to work much harder to gain the trust and loyalty of consumers. How would we, as a newcomer prove our commitment to zero harmful chemicals, highest quality, cruelty-free organic products? Usage of the word ‘organic’ was largely unregulated, and the market was saturated by unscrupulous manufacturers jumping on the organic bandwagon with the least of requirements met.
So we decided that just ‘organic’ was just not good enough for us. We knew that certification with an internationally recognised body was the only way forward. Although the process proved to be a sharp learning curve in the beginning, it has instilled integrity into every aspect our our work. Today, all Buds products proudly carry the ECOCERT marque, the gold standard worldwide in organic certification of sustaina-ble practices. But our efforts won’t stop here. The work to maintain this prestigious certification is an ongoing one, with regular audits to determine our eligibility. We are proud to have achieved and maintained our certification consecutively since 2009.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ECOCERT’S STRINGENT STANDARDS
In time, we were able to move out of Siew Peng’s kitchen and into our own premises. Over the years, as our markets grew from niche local consumers to ten other countries worldwide, our manufacturing facilities grew in tandem. After relocating twice to larger facilities, in 2020 we moved into our latest, specially commissioned facility, with manufacturing, warehous-ing, research labs, event spaces and offices under one roof.