High-profile local beauty entrepreneur, Edna Swart (Celebrity Treasure Island and Boss Babes), has secured a deal with Australia’s sixth-largest retailer, Chemist Warehouse.

The deal will see Swart’s body care products, ed&i, retail in selected Chemist Warehouse stores throughout New Zealand, as well as their e-commerce channels. The partnership is also set to provide a platform for future trans-Tasman export growth.

Chemist Warehouse, which generates over $3bn in revenue annually, has over 500 outlets in Australia and plans to open up to 70 stores in New Zealand. Swart says, the company had a 245 percent increase in sales revenue in the last financial year and is targeting over $8 million in sales revenue by 2025.

“Channel diversification is a key part of this strategy and while we were selling well in supermarkets around the country at one stage, we eventually opted to exit that retail network in favour of Chemist Warehouse – which has a better alignment with our target consumer.

While ed&i has amassed a customer base of over 30,000 customers and 100,000+ social media followers, Swart recognises that the Australian market is significantly larger than New Zealand, so plans to invest heavily in building the brand.

“Brands that are intrinsically linked with the personality of a founder are always going to face challenges in markets where there they have low recognition,” she says. “While there have been benefits of this model during the start-up phase of the company, the next stage of its development will be outside of New Zealand. Despite having an existing retail partner in Australia, we are going to need to make a significant marketing investment to achieve our revenue aspiration there.”

In addition to partnering with Chemist Warehouse, ed&i plans to pivot towards the highly lucrative anti-ageing market, creating a product range for mature women, including a new a full body serum (pictured above).