The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dew can clean up the market
Most people would be satisfied with a 12,000% sales r ise and a workforce that has increased from two to 25 this year.
But the chief executive of the Dundee- based Dew range of cleaning products sees no reason why his company cannot eventually make hundreds of millions of pounds a year.
Erik Smyth formed Ecoanolytes in 2018 after discovering the cleaning properties of electrolysed water which can be 30 times the power of bleach while remaining safe to drink if accidentally swallowed.
After initially looking to market the product to industry he launched the consumer facing D ew brand of disinfectant and cleaning products. It was an instant success.
“Initially we worked with fish companies to look at using the product as part of food processing – we thought we could extend the shelf life and make it suitable for export to the US,” Mr Smyth said.
“The trials were positive, the length of e xisting supplier contracts proved to be a barrier.
“So we launched the consumer brand with an empha s i s on ou r environmentally friendly ethos and the use of refills. The products just took off.
“People were buying online and leaving glowing reviews – by default it became our main focus.”
Mr Symth claims his cleaning products are lower cost, more effective and kinder to the skin compared with most found on supermarket shelves, such as alcohol-based sanitisers.
The company was already experiencing growth before Covid-19 hit in Ma r c h which sent demand through the roof.
Since then the business has created a range of misting devices to help sanitise schools, businesses and public spaces.
Mr Smyth said: “It’s one step to make sure people’s hands and surfaces are clean but the virus is in the air, people breathe it in.
“The active ingredient in our products is produced naturally by our bodies and poses no danger if breathed in or inadvertent ly consumed. We have some white label agreements with other companies so we can get the technology out to as wide an audience as we can.
“Bu s ine s se s now understand the y must a c c e p t o n g o i n g responsibility for infection control and this is a way the y can reduce costs without reducing the effectiveness.”
Customers include St Andrews University, SPAR, Abertay University, Parks of Hamilton and bus firm Moffat and Williamson.
This month it moved into new premises at West Gourdie Industrial Estate in Dundee with new equipment more than treb l ing product ion from 400 to 1,400 litres an hour.
“I think we are just scratching the surface at the moment – we know that within five years the company will be 100 times the size,” Mr Smyth added.
“We are working on several exciting projects including a US company that is looking at our products for airports.
“We are also working to help people back to places of worship with a company that makes walkway tunnels that decontaminate as they travel through them.
“A n d we ’ve been supplying free products to some schools in Tayside and frontline workers.”