What’s the story behind Zum?
We pour passion for aromatherapy, natural ingredients, and essential oils into our premium line of plant-based Zum products for body and home. It started in 1996 in Kansas City with the Zum Bar, a moisture packed, good-smelling goat’s milk soap and since then, Zum has grown to be an aromatic mainstay in bathrooms and homes. Zum products strip down to plant-based basics and are made from real ingredients and handcrafted essential oil blends.
Clean & natural ingredients are at the center of everything you do. How has that impacted the way the brand has developed and continues to operate?
With more than 35 handcrafted scent blends, you can create your own at-home or on-the-go aromatherapy to suit any mood. We keep our premium ingredients and essential oil blends at the forefront of the products we make at our factory in Kansas City, Missouri, and ensure that we source the best ingredients for your home and body.
Tell us more about your fantastic-smelling goat’s milk soaps and the goats that help produce it.
Goats milk is a jack of all trades. For starters, it contains naturally occurring fats and a pH close to that of your own skin, keeping you hydrated without overdoing it. It is also packed with vitamins, minerals and proteins and its gentle exfoliation will cleanse your skin without removing the oils your skin needs. Zum Bar Soaps are made with goat’s milk to keep your skin singing and your shower sudsy.
Our non-GMO, grade-A goat’s milk is naturally sourced from no-kill dairy farms we have been working with for years. Like our farmer partners, we are animal lovers and champions of ethical treatment, which is why our goats might be the most happy-go-lucky goats around. Did we mention they’re vegetarians? They have access to free range pastures where they graze in pesticide-free fields and are given large shelters to avoid any bad weather. And don’t worry, they’re never given antibiotics, bovine growth treatments or steroids. You might be wondering how we know all of this. The farms are regularly inspected by both state and county agencies and are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association.
Has anything surprised you about your journey/success?
The loyalty of our customers has been unwavering since the company was female founded in 1996. The fact that our consumers (Zum Loveys to us) have bought Zum products for over 20 years, use them in their homes and on their bodies and feel an attachment to the products or associate memories with the scents is the most rewarding part of people using Zum. We love hearing stories from our Loveys about what the products mean to them.
What’s next on the horizon for Zum or what do you hope to do next?
We’re always working in the Zum Lab to create new Zum products and scent blends. The Zum Lab is our R&D area where we launch new products and new scents to consumers available directly from our website. When a customer purchases from the Zum Lab we ask for their opinions about the Zum Lab products post-purchase to help us tweak Zum into the best product it can be. When products or scents are a hit in the Zum Lab, they are launched into the full Zum Family available in other online channels and in-store. The most recent “graduates” of the Zum Lab are Amber and Geranium-Patchouli.