Hear from our newest Supplier Focus! Fusspot Collagen Beauty Tea was developed to support the concept of “beauty from within” An easy, affordable, beneficial and ready-to-drink everyday solution of organic teas packed with antioxidants and boosted with the benefits of hydrolyzed collagen peptides to support radiant, glowing skin, hair & nails from the inside. We spoke to founder Sam Arcadipane about all aspects of running the business--from their favorite products to what it's like running a beauty brand!
When was your company formed? Where are you based? What do you produce?
We’re Fusspot Collagen Beauty Tea – we are 3 years old, and are born and bred from Melbourne, Australia. We developed a range of organic teas, infused with hydrolyzed collagen peptides to support radiant, smoother skin, thicker & healthier hair, stronger nails and joints and improved gut health – a delicious, ready-to-drink and highly beneficial range of teas in loose leaf, biodegradable teabags and powder teas – all formulated with antioxidants and infused with collagen peptides so you can get your caffeine hit and collagen boost daily to support your wellbeing from the inside!
Collagen is the main structural protein in the body, and is like the ‘glue’ that holds everything together, so committing to a collagen program can help support hair loss and greying hair, thinning hair, weakened joints, wrinkles, fine lines, rosacea and pigmentation, as well as brittle and breaking nails and poor gut health – collagen is a master and we start to lose about 1% to 2% of our natural collagen production PER YEAR from our mid 20s, so it’s always a good time to start supplementing with collagen, and what better way than with a ready-made collagen tea – two cups daily to help support your collagen loss and prevent the signs of ageing. We offer green, black and herbal teas in 11 blends – all infused with collagen so you can drink the benefits and sip away the wrinkles!
How many people work for the business?
It’s just myself but we do have many contractors that help and support in SEM, SEO, design, bookkeeping, accounting, website development, and printing/packaging and manufacturing and shipping and storage – as well as working with a lot of customers and ambassadors.
Who do you sell to?
We sell online at www.fusspottea.com to a global audience, and we also sell to retailers via our wholesale program – where we’re currently selling in Australia, NZ, Canada, Ireland and just recently to the UK! We sell to a range of businesses like health and wellbeing stores, vitamin stores, gift stores, hair and beauty salons, yoga retreats and supermarkets.
Is there a specific product you're particularly proud of and why?
Yes, that would have to be our collagen-infused loose leaf blend “GLOW JUNKIE” – it’s a delicious blend of green sencha tea, hemp seed, olive leaf, paw paw leaf and spearmint – and it was not only our first development blend, but the first iteration blend at both of our focus groups that received 100% from all research attendees liking the flavour and the taste and enjoying it. It’s our top-seller and it’s delicious! It’s appeared in Vogue, Real Housewives of Melbourne and Body+Soul Magazine, and has won multiple awards both locally and globally like the LuxLife Health & Beauty Award for best Collagen Tea Globally, and the Global Pure Beauty Award for Best Collagen for Skin and Body.
What do you most enjoy about running your business?
I love the freedom and the ability to make decisions quickly and pivot to make things happen. I also love having full control where I want to grow the business, how I can adapt to new opportunities and just make it happen. It’s very liberating – but it is very hard work – and so rewarding. I’ve come from a long career in corporate life, so running your own business is rewarding but it’s hard work, and you need a strong work ethic, determination, and perseverance – there’s some days it’s exhausting as it just never stops, but when you think about the fact that you created something from an idea, a concept – then developed and manufactured it, launched it and then others are buying it and enjoying it and even writing reviews – well – there is no other feeling other than pride!!!
For the founder/face of the brand - when you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?
That’s a bit tricky as I do work A LOT, there is always so much to do across so many facets of the business from paying invoices, setting up eDM’s, doing social media and more. I don’t see it as ‘work’ because I really enjoy spending time on my brand and the business and interacting with customers. I also strongly believe in work-life balance and I have a very healthy social life, with lots of friends who I love catching up with and enjoying dinner together and hearing their news, plus I also have a beautiful husband who I love taking road trips with, and we love to travel overseas and explore new cities, beaches and countries – so any spare time is spent researching and planning our next road trip or vacation or flight and looking forward to the next adventure. I also love reading true-crime novels, anything Italian like travel destinations, food, language, culture, film and fashion, and I really love going to art galleries and wineries. My life is very full and I’m happy!
What do you think of the free Product Guru platform? What encouraged you to join?
I completely love it – so far it’s been a great way to get exposure for Fusspot CollagenBeauty Tea in the UK and to get infront of new retailers that I may not have had contact with from this side of the planet – it’s a great platform to share products and your brand.