Developing new products - behind the scenes

We are developing new products for our online shop, but we haven't told you much about the story behind it. Today we thought we'd tell you about how it all started, about the collaboration with the company Pufz and about how we work to develop the new products.

How it all started

It all started with a phone call from my (Helena's) old secondary school friend Anna. Anna, a civil engineer, has always been creative and many years ago she started the company Pufz, which develops innovative products in the durable and environmentally friendly material silicone.

For her, it all started with the lack of baby food freezer moulds on the market. And what do you do? Well, you develop and have them manufactured! Since then, there have been many more products, from baking moulds and spatulas to trivets and wine corks.

Pufz has been doing well, but like many others, the company was affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Many of Anna's products were sold to gift shops and foreign tourists, but in 2020 nothing was as usual. And this is what we talked about on the phone that day in spring 2020.

Maybe an online shop?

During the conversation, I mentioned that we sometimes thought about opening an online shop. It was just a thought that we'd been dabbling in, but maybe it could be a start to sell Anna's products? After all, we had a blog and it could not be so difficult to start a web shop then?

We can reveal that it was much more work than we ever imagined, but luckily we were blissfully unaware of that at the time. We decided to meet at the home of Anna and her husband Anders to discuss web shop ideas.

The first ideas to develop new products

It was there, at home in Anna and Anders' garden, that the first ideas about developing new products were hatched. Anna already had products with moose, reindeer and Dala horses. "Why not motorhomes and caravans?", Peter thought. Yes, why not?

Ideas were flowing at the coffee table as we discussed design, products, shapes and colours. What would the motorhomes and caravans look like? Who could draw them? What should they be called? And what products should we develop? After many meetings and long discussions, we decided to start with trivet, key rings and dishcloths/dishcloths.

Writing contracts and reaching agreements

In the midst of the excitement and creativity, we temporarily forgot one of the most important things. Who owns what? Who pays what? What are the rights and obligations of each of us? We started writing agreements, and again there were many meetings before we finally managed to come to an agreement. Great!

Developing new designs

Now it was finally time to start designing and developing the new products! The first step was to design two types of motorhome and two types of caravan. We brought in professional design help and then sent the drafts back and forth several times before we were satisfied. And then the different variants had to be named!

Developing new products

Then we had to find manufacturers for the products. When it comes to silicone, Anna had of course established contacts, but when it comes to new materials, it's important to find someone who delivers good quality, without the price getting too high. "You have to calculate the price for production and delivery to see if the price to the customer can be reasonable. If you plan to work with retailers, you also need to consider this when pricing.

You also have to decide on things like size, shape, colour and a thousand other details. How many colours should you go for, and which ones? What size should the pattern be and where should it be printed? Should there perhaps be a hanger? Should the logo be printed somewhere?

Packaging and quantity

Besides the product itself, you need to think about the packaging. Should it be a box, a crate, a bag, a label, or perhaps no packaging is needed? What should be on the packaging or label?

You also have to decide how many to order. The more you order the better the price, but how many do you dare to buy? We promise that it was many meetings and many emails during this period!

New products again this spring!

We are now developing new products again, still in collaboration with Anna from Pufz. The products will come to the shop later this spring, but we have already received some first product samples. Fantastically exciting! If you want to know about the products as early as possible, and if you also want to get a discount on them, sign up for our newsletter:

Developing new products - how to do it

We continue to work with Pufz (just yesterday we had a 3-hour video meeting!) and our other supply chain partners. For some of the spring products we have pressed the "start button" and for others we will press the button very soon. Check back here tomorrow and we promise to show a sneak peek of the new collection! And of course, we always appreciate feedback and comments!