Meet Charlie Vickery, the Managing Director of Haeckels.
Haeckels has been on a worldwide trajectory for the last decade. Starting in the small southeast UK town of Margate, it has since made a significant impact on how we view cosmetics. Haeckels is looking to evolve the skincare industry with pioneering initiatives to reduce waste and plastic, cut carbon emissions and set up local supply chains around the world, all while creating some of the best skincare and scents available today.
We recently asked Charlie share some insight on the brand, including who they are, where they came from, and where they're going. Read the full interview below:
Haeckels has been established for over a decade, how has your brand retained its place in the apothecary industry?
We've never stood still - not even for a minute - not even to smell the roses. Every decision we make is how we can keep pushing things forward, challenging and disrupting. We're a brand built on disruption - we disrupt ourselves. To stand still would be to think that the decisions we made ten years ago are irrelevant today. It's where so many brands go wrong - they think their processes from years ago can just be remarketed and retargeted. It subsequently results in greenwashing and why our industry is littered with false claims.
What do you wish you could tell people about Haeckels that they might not get a chance of knowing?
We apply a very high calibre of scientific thought to what we do but could be better at explaining it. We use bioreactors and fermentation chambers to create our actives with a high degree of bioactives within them - making them more concentrated and more effective on the skin than most products on the market. We lean heavily on precision extraction to create what goes into our products - so we're not just a seaweed company but a company driven by science and discovery.
For Haeckels, being earth-friendly is an important, if not the most important, aspect of the brand. How difficult is it to pursue a completely waste-free operation?
Very very challenging indeed - we have yet to manage to launch refills because the materials market is so murky for packaging materials for refills. Many companies do knee-jerk reactions to things consumers want rather than considerate thought into what is best for consumers and the planet. Introducing a virgin plastic refill that can't be recycled in a household recycling bin is not a solution - it's playing into the problem, a perfect example of greenwashing. It makes everything ten times harder because we're engineering the packaging and the contents - so it's slow, painful and iterative work that often has drawbacks to user experience. But to do anything else would be to go against everything we've stood for the past ten years.
Was the transition from a soap and candle company to a skincare company challenging, and what prompted that direction?
It has worked wonderfully on our direct channels but perhaps less wonderfully on our wholesale channels. The reason being that it was our customers that sort of held our hand during the transition - they followed along, called us out and asked us to create products. So what we were launching was being made in tandem with what customers actually wanted. It's purely through our community that we've had this sort of direction change. The challenge with other retailers is you can't just switch departments within a store (imagine a clothing brand suddenly saying they were a footwear brand). Many of the amazing stores we work with don't have beauty or skincare departments.
RECLUVER PARFUM, ACTON'S LOCK CANDLE, BLEAN CANDLE, ALGEA PLUMP SERUM, ECO HAND BALM, EXFOLIATING COFFEE + SEAWEED BLOCK.
How can a small brand from Margate make such great strides in the global market?
Ha! What's crazy is how many of these global players have reached out to us - we're always so surprised about the number of inbound retailers who come to us from across the globe asking to stock us. We've also recently launched a subscription box and are shipping from Margate to Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand to name a few countries. I think it's authenticity in what we do - we make things ourselves the old-fashioned way and aren't afraid to experiment with new ingredients and materials. I often liken us to a kitchen - we're quite lo-fi in some of the equipment we use to create these extraordinary products, but in that kitchen we get our hands dirty, and we've managed to do the impossible through sheer grit. People respect that grit - our openness to try things and publicly fail, but use those lessons to keep pressing on and delivering things that drive value and have a reason to exist.
Can you tell us more about the free community sauna on the beach in Margate?
Absolutely! It's one of the things that we used to have prospective investors look at and say, "why have you done that? it's not even branded!" (it's not branded). For us, coastal wellness is about communities from different backgrounds coming together to experience the healing properties of the sea. We wanted to give back to a town that has given us so much - and it's as simple as that.
Haeckels is described as an "amplifier of the natural world." What does that mean for a skincare brand?
In all honesty, we often struggle to explain what we do because we do so much - we're a skincare player, a materials player and a major player in the design world. How do you explain that? Amplifying the natural world means protecting it through innovation - leaning into nature can teach us a lot about the cycle of life, and nature has all the answers to how we solve our problems.
What is one achievement or milestone on the journey of the brand that made you feel as though "you made it?"
We have had many tried and failed investment rounds over the years - we're a loss-making company because we do so much, which means we require the drip feeding of investment. In 2021 we decided to go out to market after a few solid years and got our feet in the door at some of the world's most respected investment houses, beauty brands and VCs. We never officially even kicked off the round. It was the first time people could see the strategy behind what we do, and the appetite was there. The day we closed the investment round, I don't think I've ever felt so light in my entire life. But then we were like - right, let's reimagine the entire brand - which is, I guess what nobody expected us to do. Most people would have sat back and watched it scale, but we knew we had to lean into future materials otherwise, we'd just be another luxury amber bottle brand you suddenly see everywhere. We went back to our routes and drove more disruption than we've ever driven before.
PEGWELL, RECULVER, AND BOTANY PARFUM'S.
What prompted a spa in the Maldives?
This was one of those crazy things that happened in 2020, where we received an email from a new brand planning to open a new eco-resort in the Maldives about two weeks after the lockdown was announced. We united almost immediately on shared goals and ambitions. From Margate to the Maldives has such an incredible ring to it.
What's your favourite treatment at Haeckels House, your in-house spa?
I love the Haeckels Lab facial - it's totally bespoke to you and is done by some of our amazing therapists in London using our Haeckels Lab and Skin products.
Did you take a bite of the edible cup Haeckels made?
I did! It was an amazing project - and just the beginning of some exciting developments over the coming years
Can you speak to the benefits of seaweed in skincare?
Seaweed is the most versatile and incredible ingredient. For skincare, it's nourishing, calming, hydrating, plumping - it entirely depends on the application and the type of seaweed.
What made you pursue a bar of soap that uses discarded coffee grounds?
Friendship! Ozone were the first friends we made when opening our London store. We met their incredible team and were so aligned on our missions. When working together, we need to have a solid friendship and respect for one another. We hold Ozone very dear to us, the product was amazing.
What fragrance is your daily driver?
Botany - I carry a mini bottle of it on me at all times.
What's the weirdest thing you have found on a Haeckels-run beach clean?
Haha - some things probably shouldn't be shared.
What is the best thing on the menu at Daisy, your neighbour in Margate?
Anything on the brunch menu is worth the trip to Margate alone.
