Little Ripples wine: HERO Condom’s creator Dustin Leonard creates new social enterprise

He was labelled a villain on Married At First Sight. But now Dean Wells is back and part of a venture that has a seriously important mission.

For Dustin Leonard moving from condoms into wine seemed like a natural progression.

The young entrepreneur was spending more and more time in Africa where his company HERO Condoms gives one condom to developing nations for every one of its products sold in Australia.

While there Mr Leonard realised there was a sector that desperately needed more help, a realisation that eventually sparked his new social enterprise company, Little Ripples wine.

“We kind of just really noticed there was a lot of issues around the shortages of water and water is just a fundamental aspect of life,” he told news.com.au.

“You’re seeing women and children and everyone suffering quite significantly due to not having access to clean and safe water.”

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Dustin Leonard (centre) is the CEO of HERO Condoms.

For every bottle sold, Little Ripples will provide clean water to one person for an entire year through the BridgIT Water Foundation — a real way to make your evening glass of wine that little bit more guilt free.

“We didn’t want to do it with spirits or beer, so we thought wine was kind of the right fit,” Mr Leonard said.

“With wine it’s a very sociable drink, so you buy a nice bottle of wine to bring to a dinner with friends and family.”

Mr Leonard admits that his commitment to donating a year of clean water per bottle rather than based off a percentage of profits might seem risky for a start-up. But he believes its important in making Little Ripples answerable to customers.

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The young entrepreneur has an ambitious new project.

“It really helps keep us a accountable and it’s very transparent to the end consumer, because profits can usually be manipulated,” he said.

“It’s a very clear, transparent and quite powerful message.”

Those collaborating with him on the project include the famous Cassegrain wine family, former general manager of Wine Australia Paul Henry and Wendy Tisdell, founder of water charity BridgIT Water Foundation.

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Former MAFS star Dean Wells is Little Ripples' creative director.

Also part of Mr Leonard’s new venture as creative director is Dean Wells, who reality TV fans might remember from Married At First Sight.

The Sydney-based marketing executive found himself portrayed as the villain on the 2018 series of MAFS because of his “affair” with Davina Rankin.

Mr Wells, who has been open about how the show affected employment opportunities, joined Little Ripples because his previous work made him a “really good fit”, Mr Leonard said.

“He loved the cause and we’ve been mates for a while, so we brought him on board and it’s a really good fit for the team and our marketing content,” he said.

Describing him as a “legitimately an extremely nice human” with a “big heart”, Mr Leonard said he was nothing like how he had been made to look on MAFS.

“He’s a lovely person and he’s got a big heart and unfortunately they didn’t portray that side of him on the show,” Mr Leonard said.

For more information or to purchase their wine, head to the Little Ripples website