Haircare start-up BodFood teams up with influencers ahead of national growth plans

A former Sunshine Coast mortgage broker has enlisted an army of social media influencers and a former Bachelor star in a bid to take her eco-shampoo line national.

A former Sunshine Coast mortgage broker has enlisted an army of social media influencers and a former Bachelor star in a bid to take her eco-shampoo line national.

Linda Ireland launched BodFood in November last year.

The company makes shampoo, conditioner and skincare products solely from natural and vegan-friendly ingredients.

The idea for Ms Ireland’s business was sparked by her struggles with chronic fatigue from her successful, but highly demanding past career as the director of a mortgage brokerage on the Sunshine Coast.

While focusing on self-care to overcome her health issues, Ms Ireland saw that effective hair care products made with natural ingredients were scarce in supermarkets and pharmacies.

In 2017, she set out to develop her first shampoo formula with an Australian chemist which received glowing feedback from focus groups, prompting her to start the company and eventually bring 12 products to market a few months ago.

Founder Linda Ireland of BodFood, hair care products with natural and eco-friendly ingredients. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Ms Ireland said the next step for her business was to grow her customer base nationally through a combination of social media influencer sponsorships and selling to retailers.

BodFood is currently working with three influencers as a key part of its growing marketing strategy including TV personality Ali Oetjen who is best known for starring on The Bachelor shows and boasts more than 230,000 Instagram followers.

The start-up is also working with Jasmin Young who has approximately 61,000 Instagram followers and Asha Dakin with 40,000 on TikTok and plans to work with more throughout the year.

“You can see an ad but you’re not really getting a recommendation whereas with an influencer if they’re authentic people can trust the product, it’s not smoke and mirrors and is an authentic representation that the product works,” Ms Ireland said.

“The importance of the ones that are working in an authentic way is key, I think it’s a powerful way for people to see how your product performs and it will be important for us to increase our brand exposure.”

Ms Ireland said she aimed to reach 200 stockists by the end of the year.

Founder Linda Ireland of BodFood, hair care products with natural and eco-friendly ingredients. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“Going from finance to hair care was a bit of a culture shock and I’ve now just made the step from infancy to stepping up with a staff member,” Ms Ireland said.

“Last year was really about testing the market to ensure I had everything right, I’ve just employed a marketing agency to get the messaging and branding how I wanted it to bring the story of BodFood and what my products embody to life.”

Some of the unique ingredients used in BodFood’s shampoos include aloe vera powder, marshmallow and bamboo powder which Ms Ireland said elevates her products from others at a competitive price point.

Ms Ireland ran her start-up from home and was looking to secure a workspace within the next six months.

She also had more hair care products in the pipeline including a blonde shampoo and conditioner releasing soon.