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13 - 16 February 2024 // Nürnberg, Germany
VIVANESS Newsroom
The boep – the project that became a business
Young innovative companies pavilion
It all started with the “'baby oil project”. When Dr Michaela Hagemann, a passionate doctor specialising in paediatrics, was expecting her first child, she worked intensively on the issue of baby care products. “They had to be natural, of course, so conventional synthetic products were off limits,” she says. From her time in hospital paediatric departments she knew that some babies react sensitively to essential oils and that some young mothers do not like the strong perfume of natural products. “Therefore I worked with a natural cosmetics manufacturer to develop my own product line tailored to my needs and preferences.”
The products were so popular with her friends that Michaela Hagemann decided to start marketing them through a small online shop and social media. As the name was a bit too long, “the baby oil project” was shortened to “the boep”. That was at the end of 2015. Meanwhile, ''the boep'' is managed by a team of five, and the seven COSMOS-certified and dermatologically tested baby care products have made the leap to the commercial market.
The subtly scented care products are based on almond oil and are very popular. They are selling so well that “the boep” offers a family-sized 500 ml bottle of the body lotion. “Our fans are primarily mothers who also like to use the lotion themselves. We are also expanding our product range,”' says the delighted founder of the company. “We aim to supply high-quality products for the modern, informed and green lifestyle. This is reflected in the product formulations and also in our design,” says Hagemann. She continues to provide creative input, designing and maintaining the company's website herself, for example. The project also includes gift sets with high-quality organic clothing in sustainable packaging. And that’s the story of how the baby oil project turned into a proper small company.
The boep (www.dasboep.de) is one of the exhibitors at the pavilion for young innovative companies, which receives funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI) and is designed for newcomers and start-ups from Germany. At VIVANESS, the international trade fair for natural and organic personal care (www.vivaness.de) from 14 -17 February 2018, you will find the 10-company pavilion in Hall 7A.