The lead up to Christmas is a pivotal time for small businesses in the bush and last year Buy From The Bush (BFTB) marketplace turned over more than $600,000 in November alone.
One year on and it looks to be another bumper Christmas for the platform as Aussies are looking to buy local and Australian made gifts this season.
BFTB founder Grace Brennan says you will find unique products that you just won’t be able to find anywhere else.
“Buy From The Bush helps you discover unique gifts that you wouldn’t stumble across in a mall or high street store,” she says.
“Much of it is hand-crafted and sourced locally. We curate the very best of stylish country store finds in one easy platform. The best bit is knowing that your gift helps to generate cash flow, create jobs and provide opportunities for small rural communities across Australia.”
Indeed, Emily Thomas of Washpool Skin Wellness says that by selling their products on the BFTB marketplace, Washpool Skin Wellness went from being a side income stream to a business that not only supports her own family but those of their wonderful staff as well.
“We joined the marketplace when it started in October 2020 and daily average orders shot up 50 per cent in the first two months alone,” she says.
Emily and her mother Melissa develop, create, bottle, package and label all their Washpool Skin Wellness products on site at their family-run soaperie in the tiny township of Ballandean in rural Queensland.
They source their ingredients from ethical and fair trade suppliers and buy Australian, organic and local where possible to create a range of natural eco-friendly skincare and low tox home products with a focus on nourishing ingredients that help soothe and protect.
In late 2019, Washpool Skin Wellness had a heavy reliance on storefront sales which accounted for about 75 per cent of trade. That same year was the peak of a five-year drought, then bushfires arrived in December and Melissa’s husband was drawn away from the business by his role as a volunteer firefighter. Heading into 2020, the family thought about closing their doors and laying people off until the next winter season.
“Supporting small producers like Washpool has an incredible ripple effect that impacts small rural communities like ours, boosting the local economy and the spirits of our employees and their families,” adds Emily.
One year ago BFTB partnered with PayPal to launch the BFTB marketplace, which now features more than 250 rural and regional small businesses that have shipped to approximately 30 countries including the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Chile, China and Qatar.
“While Buy From The Bush was born of drought, it has seen rural small business through a series of crises including fires and a global pandemic. One year on, the Buy From The Bush marketplace is now a significant channel to market for rural small and micro business. While $600K in one month pre-Christmas is significant, it is perhaps our capacity to foster growth and innovation that excites me the most. This is only the beginning,” says Brennan.
