Little Bumble Beeswax Food Wraps

By Laura Eddington, Warragul startup

Premium reusable food wraps that eliminate plastic and food waste. Lovingly handmade in Gippsland

Photo: Aldona Kmiec Photo: Jakub Fabijanski Photo: Jakub Fabijanski

We hear from the winner of the Best Overall Pitch Prize sponsored by GippsTech, Laura Eddington, the founder of Little Bumble Beeswax Food Wraps based in Warragul. Laura was also a winner of the Gippsland arm of the Nexus Jiangsu-Victoria Startup Summit and an all-expenses paid trip to China earlier in the year (read about Laura’s win here).

Startup Gippsland: Laura, please tell us a bit about your startup?

In simple words: It’s the food storage that won’t cost you the earth!

Laura Eddington: I’m Laura and I’m a proud Gippslandian. While on maternity leave from science teaching, I became frustrated at the food wastage and plastic pollution that was occurring in my home. Being raised on land and striving to be a more sustainable, I began to research an alternative to plastic wrap, reusable food wraps. I put my science skills to use and developed an all-natural formula that produced premium wraps that could be customised, refreshed and made into a DIY kit. With the support of my family, friends and community, Little Bumble was created in June 2017. Little Bumble reusable food wraps are naturally anti-bacterial keeping your food fresher for longer. Lovingly hand cut and hand dipped with local and natural ingredients in the Little Bumble Studio. Use them for up to a year and then refresh with a top-up kit so they keep going and going! You can even make them yourself with a DIY kit. There really is no need for plastic wrap in your kitchen.

Startup Gippsland: How did you learn about Startup Gippsland and what was your first thought about it?

Laura: I discovered a brochure at a market. I thought it sounded like a great idea to apply. When I applied for StartUp Gippsland I wanted to fill the knowledge gaps to help me scale up my business.

Startup Gippsland: Why did you want to join the program? What was the problem you were trying to solve?

Laura: I launched Little Bumble almost two years ago and am experiencing very high demand and wanted to start exporting and automating but didn’t know where to start. Having no business background I’d been learning on the run and only skimming the surface of a lot of the important skills and strategies.

Startup Gippsland: What was your experience like in the 12 weeks of the program? 

Laura: When I look at where I am now there are massive improvements, I am exporting and have begun automation. I have a more professional looking email and I feel the business has a clearer directions and strategies in place going forward. A big milestone for me was the pitches. I’d never done one before and gippstech told me about a competition and I took up the opportunity and won a trip to China to pitch to investors! Just before I left my mentor from startup connected me with a local business that secured an automation loan without the collateral of my house so I could keep full control of my company in the scale up stage. So I went on to China to pitch asking for distributors and made connections and now I’m developing a market entry plan for China. It gave me confidence to enter into another pitchfest where I places as a runner up.

There has been a huge shift in my mind set. I was stuck with my head down and tail up working myself to the bone but I had forgotten to look up and connect and grab opportunities with both hands! And I’ve learnt amazing things happen when you do this!

Along the way I’ve picked up so many useful strategies and skills but the most valuable learning has been that collaboration it key to success. I’m not the master of everything and I need to draw from others wealth of knowledge and form relationships with others who can help me achieve goals! I’ve broken free of the fear of failure, judgement and my own pride and learnt to ask for help. This week I participated in a case study interview for the Committee of Gippsland where I was able to talk about my startup challenges. Normally I would have said I’m too busy and not participated. But I realise now that to see real change I have to, and want to, be a driver and contributor for a better future for startups.

Startup Gippsland: What are the biggest benefits of you undertaking the program? Can you provide an example of how it worked for you?

Laura: Along the way I’ve picked up so many useful strategies and skills but the most valuable learning has been that collaboration it key to success. I’m not the master of everything and I need to draw from others wealth of knowledge and form relationships others who can help me achieve goals! I’ve broken free of the fear of failure, judgement and my own pride and learnt to ask for help.

Startup Gippsland: Have you discovered new or different users for your product/service, compared with original expectations? Are you still pursuing your original startup idea? 

Laura: I’m still pursuing the original start up idea but have fine tuned it along the way and started to implement the scaling up that’s needed such as automation and exporting.

Startup Gippsland: What was your biggest success after undertaking the program? Personal or professional (or both)! 

Laura: When I look at where I am now there are massive improvements, I am exporting and have begun automation. I have a more professional looking email and I feel the business has a clearer directions and strategies in place going forward. A big milestone for me was the pitches. I’d never done one before and gippstech told me about a competition and I took up the opportunity and won a trip to China to pitch to investors! Just before I left my mentor from startup connected me with a local business that secured an automation loan without the collateral of my house so I could keep full control of my company in the scale up stage. So I went on to China to pitch asking for distributors and made connections and now I’m developing a market entry plan for China. It gave me confidence to enter into another pitchfest where I places as a runner up. There has been a huge shift in my mind set. I was stuck with my head down and tail up working myself to the bone but I had forgotten to look up and connect and grab opportunities with both hands! And I’ve learnt amazing things happen when you do this! Along the way I’ve picked up so many useful strategies and skills but the most valuable
learning has been that collaboration it key to success.

Startup Gippsland: what was the most important skill you’ve learnt, and a realisation you’ve had during/after the program?

Laura: Collaboration is key to success. I’m not the master of everything and I need to draw from others wealth of knowledge and form relationships others who can help me achieve goals! I’ve broken free of the fear of failure, judgement and my own pride and learnt to ask for help.

Testimonials

“There has been a huge shift in my mind set. I was stuck with my head down and tail up working myself to the bone but I had forgotten to look up and connect and grab opportunities with both hands!.”

“When I applied for StartUp Gippsland I wanted to fill the knowledge gaps to help me scale up my business.”

Watch Laura’s Winning Pitch

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