Upfront Cosmetics, the Nackawic, NB-based maker of eco-friendly baby shampoo, now sells its soap in close to 275 stores and has inked a 14-store deal with health food giant Whole Foods.

Launched in 2019 by Founder Alicia Sharp, Upfront was inspired by her attempts to find shampoo for her own child and her discovery that products were invariably packaged in environmentally taxing plastic bottles.

Upfront’s products, which are now available for both children and adults, are sold as solid bars so that they can be packaged in environmentally friendly paper wrapping.

“Everything we do, right down to the tape that we use, is plastic free,” Sharp said in an interview. “We use a water-activated tape. We use biodegradable packing peanuts that are made from potato starch; it's a byproduct that would otherwise just get thrown out.

“Everything that we've done is a super conscious choice about the impact that it's going to have on the environment and our end consumer.”

Sharp was speaking days after learning she'd been named one of the Canadian representatives to the  G20 Youth Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, which will meet in Italy in the fall. She plans to use her “boots on the ground” experience as a founder to advise policy makers on how to support entrepreneurship. If travel restrictions have been lifted, she will travel to Italy for the event. Otherwise, she will take part in a virtual gathering.

Sharp's entrepreneurial drive has helped her secure retailers in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Mexico and Jamaica, though North America continues to be the biggest market for shampoos. As the company expands, international markets will be a key part of the business plan.

Sharp's focus on building a global brand is the result of a 2019 stint at the University of New Brunswick’s Summer Institute accelerator. The program encouraged her to rebrand from her previous company name, Made by Alicia, in a bid to position herself as a competitor to major players in the cosmetics industry. She also trimmed her then-expansive product line to focus on shampoos.

“I remember on the second day of the Summer Institute, some of the mentors asked, ‘What do you want to do and who do you see yourself competing with?’” she said. “I wanted to compete with the big brands. And I think that giving myself that mindset from the get-go has pushed me to keep growing and keep doing better.”

Despite selling Upfront internationally, Sharp plans to keep manufacturing exclusively in Nackawic, just outside Fredericton. Creating well-paying local jobs, she said, is a key part of Upfront’s corporate ethos.

Her six employees are all paid at least $15 per hour -- almost a third more than New Brunswick’s $11.75 minimum wage.

“In Nackawic, that's pretty much on par with the living wage calculator,” she said. “That's something that was just important to me, as a business owner. I wouldn't be anywhere without my employees. So, it doesn't feel right to not pay them the wages that they deserve. I would pay them more if we could... But it was just really important to pay them a decent wage.”

Upfront’s plant is already capable of producing thousands of units a week, but Sharp plans to hire another two or three people this year, particularly if Sobeys decides to take her shampoo national after their listing review in November.

The Whole Foods deal and potential Sobeys expansion are part of Sharp’s plan to transition from relying on small health food stores and pharmacies to big box stores.

“I think to myself, ‘Where am I going to go buy shampoo?’” she said. “As a mom who's busy, it's going to be with my groceries. I don't have time to go to the smaller stores. There's lots of people that do. But we want to be accessible to the most amount of people.”

To finance that growth, she’s in the process of preparing for Upfront’s first capital raise, after already bagging grants from Opportunities NB, accelerator Planet Hatch and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

“Sobeys comes with listing fees,” she said. “And we know that an integral part of our growth is going to be having access to capital to continue to grow.”