There are a lot of hot and cold pain relief products on the market. What is the technology or proposition that differentiates Therapearl?
There are some cold packs available in the UK and around Europe, but they are not necessarily readily available in retail. More specifically, our pearl technology is unique, as it allows each pack to conform to your body while it is frozen. When you remove the pack from the freezer, it is very malleable to your body and will conform to the specific body part that is injured. Also, once frozen and placed on the body, it is not going to drip water like a bag of peas would or other cold packs do. Plus it is reusable many times over, non-toxic and fun to play with.
What’s the difference between hot and cold pain relief and how do you know which of these you require?
It depends on your body and the injury. For example, for any kind of immediate injury like bruising or swelling, you would want to use cold pain relief. For more acute injuries such as muscle spasms or muscle pains, which are long term injuries, you would want to use hot.
Most of the time with your neck or back, it is almost always hot. And with your ankles, wrists and knees, it is going to be cold. On our website we have hot and cold education, where consumers can see for themselves when they should use hot or cold pain relief for what injuries or ailments. We also try to put up advertisements around the country and in retailers to highlight this to consumers, because a lot of people don’t know and they won’t because they are not doctors.
You are established in the US market and now launching in the UK. What is your perception of the opportunities and challenges specific to the UK market?
We are well established in the US market. My perception of the UK market is that it is very similar to the US in terms of the retail landscape, which this means there are lots of opportunities for our products.
I also think that, similar to the US, sports injuries are on the rise in the UK, so there is more of a need for such a product than ever before. After going to many stores throughout the UK, I realised it is challenging to find a good hot and cold pack such as ours.
Also, the addition of straps to our products means you can use them on the go. Not everyone has the time to slow down and stop for 20 minutes, so it’s a great option for on the go. Not all the products have this option, as we want to give the consumer plenty of choice.
You have launched in the UK with a limited product range. Is this to test the market prior to a roll out of the complete range or is it your intention to drip feed new products?
It is by no means to test the market. I think in any instance with a new retailer or country you need to crawl before you can walk. We launched our three most popular cold items with Boots and they’re doing very well. We are now in talks with three-four other retailers who want to launch the line. Sports market-wise, we are currently selling our product in Runners Need and Sweatshop.
Your products are targeted at athletes and sports enthusiasts, as well as people experiencing everyday aches and pains and those with specific medical ailments such as arthritis. Which of these will form the brand’s main emphasis in the UK both short and long term?
Consumers looking for a cold pack for everyday aches and pains are going to drive the bulk of the purchases, but with sport injuries on the rise and consumers being more active, sport injuries will also come into play. And by opening up accounts with Runners Need and Sweatshop it will bring in more sport related injuries.
With Boots, it will most likely be general aches and pains and with Runners Need it will probably be more sports enthusiast. It depends on the outlet, but the good news is that hot and cold pain relief is a category that’s growing on a global scale by eight per cent a year. So now is a perfect time to introduce a branded capital leader in the UK and that is what we hope to become.
Tell us about the thought behind the product design, see through plastic, etc.
When we were at the first stages of marketing and branding, we set out to be the number one cold pack in the world. We want to become what Vaseline is to petroleum jelly, for example. We want to be the world dominator of hot and cold. That’s our goal and in North America we are the number one brand, so it would be great to emulate that success here in the UK.
In the US we took a very specific and targeted approached. We wanted to be different. We want to make sure consumers can see the product and touch the product. We want that consumer interaction before you buy. We wanted to have an iconic colour – aqua blue – which really stands out. Most other hot or cold products are a deep blue or deep red, so we stand out from the crowd. We wanted to make sure consumers could see us. We set out to be the sexiest hot and cold pack, and I think we have achieved that. Even though, in all honestly, it is not a very sexy category.
What are the best selling Therapearl products in the US?
In the US, our number one item is the sports pack. It is our most generic sports pack, does not have a strap and sells for £7.99 in the UK. Our second is the sports pack with a strap. It’s very similar, but offers consumers who are on the go a strap. Our number three is our back wrap and number four is our knee wrap.
All these work well with everyday aches and pains, sports injuries or problems like arthritis. In the UK, with what we have seen so far our sports pack is number one, the sports pack with strap is number two and our knee wrap is number three. We don’t have our back wrap in many retailers, so it is in line with what has happened in the US.
We are doubling the business every year, with 100 per cent growth rate last year, then 85 per cent and this year about 65 per cent. We are hoping to quadruple the business in the UK every year for the next three years, until we get to the point where most of the retailers are on board.
We plan to be the number one brand in this market, but we understand we need to crawl before we can walk. We want to do this the right way and from a regulatory stand point we have made sure we have built it and got the authorisation needed to enter the market correctly and start building our brand.
What are your growth plans for the brand?
Therapearl was started by two working mums who were looking for something better than the frozen peas solution. I joined them in 2009 and together we developed the expansion strategy and the brand and made it mainstream in the US.
The shape is similar to a bag of frozen peas, but the colour is different and we wanted to make sure it conforms to your body shape, stays cold for 20 minutes and is drip free. We started with a small 2,000 sq ft warehouse and only two employees. Now there are 20 and we have a 10,000 sq ft facility. We have a warehouse
in Los Angeles, Toronto and our UK one is in Sheffield. We are also now the number one selling hot and cold pack in North America.
How will Therapearl be distributed in the UK?
Our strategy is to go to main high street retailers, who we will supply from our warehouse in Sheffield. We also have a distributor in Birmingham that will be selling to all sport specialist stores like Runners Need and Sweatshop.
Specifically within the sports trade, where do you envision Therapearl products being sold and how are they retailed to the US sports trade?
Right now there is Runners Need and Sweatshop, but we have a great sport distributor who are the ones that have introduced this product to the sporting category, so they are the ones driving our sporting outlets. They are doing a great job with the independent stores and call in on all the major chains. Very similar to the US, we plan to work with sports accessories, so the products will be merchandised with any sporting goods or accessories.
What opportunities does Therapearl offer sports retailers online and in-store?
The incremental purchase. Consumers may not walk into Runners Need looking for a hot or cold pack, but while they are there they may think about how they could get a runner’s injury, aches or shin splints and need this pack.
So I think people won’t necessarily walk in looking for this product, but they will walk out with Therapearl. And if consumers do have any injuries, they can ask the staff in-store and they will introduce them to Therapearl.
