Smyle’s approach to sustainable and clean oral care

More oral care companies are leaning toward oral health equity initiatives, urging industry action, and engaging in holistic approaches to oral health. This shift is furthering the conversation on clean and sustainable oral care.

Personal Care Insights sits down with Smyle founder Almar Fernhout to discuss the balance between harmful oral care ingredients, sustainability, profitability, and industry responsibility.

Fernhout tells us that he founded the sustainable oral care product company, Smyle, in response to the prevalence of harmful ingredients and harsh chemicals in toothpastes on the market. The brand reflects the larger trend around products that support both oral and whole-body well-being, prompting higher demand.

Underlining the delicate nature of oral care products due to repeated oral exposure, Fernhout stresses the importance of clean formulations in toothpastes. The company works with the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam and is sampled by over 1,500 dentists to make informed and clean choices for its consumers.

“That’s the mission,” explains Fernhout. “Save as much plastic packaging and let as many people as possible brush without microplastics. Reduce the microplastics and reduce plastic packaging.”

When discussing the roles of regulations, consumers, and industry in ensuring clean and safe products, Fernhout says, “it takes two to tango.”

He says that regulations are not strong enough to clean products up from the top down; that the main issue is the power of big pharma, big oral beauty, and big FMCG companies.

According to Fernhout, Smyle aims to demonstrate to the industry that it is possible to produce clean formulations with sustainable and plastic-free packaging while growing as a company and turning a profit.

Balancing sustainability and scalability

Smyle’s plastic-free packaging reduces environmental impact.

The brand focuses on the balance between maintaining a sustainable business model without sacrificing scalability. Fernhout says that while it’s easier to start sustainable and build from there, the key to sustainability in business design is not to get lost in puritanical sustainability.

He says, “You have to seduce the customer with great designs, great taste, good quality, amazing look and feel, and of course, it’s sustainable.”

In developing the business, sustainability becomes embedded alongside the usual practices of developing a desirable product for consumers if it is maintained as a concern throughout operations, explains Fernhaut.

“Aesthetics and sustainability do not need to be enemies,” he says, drawing attention to Smyle’s leopard print electric toothbrushes, for example.

Ultimately, if companies become too preoccupied with sustainability, they lose track of business health and scalability, he says. Thus, companies that want to integrate sustainability into their operations and marketing need to walk the line between volume production and eco-friendly choices, sometimes making sacrifices when necessary.

Furthermore, he underlines the importance of adaptability and flexibility as part of the business model. Smyle started off with toothpaste tabs but quickly noticed that changing consumer habits from regular toothpaste to tabs proved to be difficult. Consequently, the company developed its aluminum packaged toothpaste with a bamboo cap, maintaining sustainability-mindedness while incorporating key consumer insights.

Fernhout says sustainability provides an opportunity for businesses, not a roadblock. As consumers become more informed through “social media and ChatGPT,” their demands for clean and sustainable products are also rising, making eco-friendly and plastic-free products a way for companies to future-proof operations and maintain a competitive edge in the sector.

“It is very easy to point the finger at the other side of the table,” says Fernhout in regard to industry responsibility. Companies continue to produce unhealthy products with harsh chemicals and microplastics because consumers are buying them and because there are no clear regulations prohibiting them.

However, according to the cyclical nature of accountability, rejection means that consumers continue to use products that have detrimental effects on their health and the planet, creating the necessity for companies to assume responsibility in cleaning their products and operations from these ingredients.

Other oral care companies are engaging with their industry responsibilities through active discourse and equity efforts. 

Earlier this year, Personal Care Insights spoke to Colgate-Palmolive after it partnered with the WHO to address crucial gaps in oral health care education. 

We also discussed the importance of oral health equity and the systemic issues economically disadvantaged demographics face in the dynamics of care access and prevention with Haleon last week.