By Rebecca Skilton
Truly Australian and inspired by nature.
That’s the message Officer’s Jax Wax Australia business owners Tina and Geoff Copland take with them worldwide.
Exported to numerous countries and regions including Asia, Australasia, America, Africa and Europe, Jax Wax Australia is the manufacturer of quality wax products.
Having recently rebranded (formally trading under the brand name Adam and Eve), the company works to emphasise their Australian roots, a factor that Tina says is an enticing element for overseas markets.
“‘Australia’ is important for exporting,” Tina, who is the CEO of Jax Wax, said.
“To brand with ‘Australia’ is really, really important. People associate Australia with things like ‘clean, green, and high quality,’ so we wanted to keep that connection (with the use of ‘Australia’ in the rebranding).”
“We do a lot of travelling and we’ve found that people in other countries give their businesses (an Australian feel). There’s a company in the UK called Outback Organics. It’s manufactured in Spain. There’s another one called Australian Body Care who are from the UK as well.
“So we want to get across that we’re genuinely Australian. It’s something we really push on our website, and in our marketing when we go overseas”
In order to help spread their Aussie message, Jax Wax products have native names, and packaging is styled using designs of Australian plants. The reverse side of products provides information about what the plants have been used for in Australia historically.
In extension, Jax Wax is working with local sporting and educational groups to help support the future of young Indigenous kids and teenagers and sponsor The Kempsey Dragons Junior Rugby League Club.
“What we’re finding through training is that people don’t really care how the wax is performing; they want to know about us and what we stand for,” Jax Wax Marketing Manager Rosie Hopgood said.
“They want to know that we’re vegan, that we’re cruelty free, that we are giving back to Aboriginal people; that we are more than just wax and more than a brand – that we have substance.”
Jax Wax began in 2000 as manufacturers of wax seal for wine bottles, before moving on to manufacture a range of products including strip, hot and cartridge wax.
Admitting their focus was always on export, the company distributes four to eight palettes of products monthly, with each palette holding between 700 and one thousand kilos.
“Our focus is on export … we always set out to export,” Tina said.
“There are several billion people in the world and there is about 25 million in Australia so you have to export. I think our business is currently around 50% exports and we expect within five years it to be about 70% to 90% export, so that’s the focus.”
With the business still growing and expanding into new countries, Tina and the Jax Wax team have become well-practiced in tackling new and different marketplaces. On entering a new market, the team attends trade shows, preforms demonstrations and undertakes strenuous research to ensure that both Jax Wax and the potential distributor reflect the same ideals and values.
However for Tina and her tight-knit, family-like team, as well as providing the marketplace with a quality product, they insist it is paramount for businesses to maintain an ethical and moral compass.
“I think you have to have a moral compass,” Tina said.
“We are an ethical company and I firmly believe you have to treat people correctly.
“We never undercut or sell around our distributors either here or overseas. Because we will get salons who say; ‘can I buy from you direct’ and we’ll say ‘9 out of 10 times we will be more expensive’. We don’t undercut (our wholesalers),” Tina said.
“The reality is that is that we want to be in a place where they will promote us because they’re happy dealing with us.
“Because rather than having a short term game, we look at things for the long term.”
