We do what we do every day to:
- Provide our customers with high quality products for effective and uncomplicated skin care.
- To give people, especially children, who grow up without adequate support systems, a fair chance in life.
- To not harm environment or wildlife with our ventures, building consumer trust in sustainable businesses.
The question of the WHY
We - and probably almost everyone reading this article right now - have had the fortune to grow up privileged: A full fridge, parents who care, access to education, maybe even going away during the school holidays.
Our founder Florian understood through travel and volunteer work that all of these things are far from a given for many people and so began to get more involved in charity work. This has led to projects with Habitat for Humanity (building houses with Zulus), Ubomi (working with children in townships) and HIT - Help in Time (project management and building schools in townships). During these projects, which were carried out during annual leave or a sabbatical in Africa, the desire grew to be able to help with more time and (financial) resources.
When the idea came up to start a company offering sustainable skincare products for men, it was a unique opportunity to combine work with conviction. Inspired by start-ups such as Buckle & Seam and various for-a-cause companies or social enterprises (as presented by Daniel Pink in his book Drive), it was decided that Kluuf would be a company with profit oriented company, but at the same time committed to supporting social/charitable causes with a share of the profit.
In summary, Kluuf supports children in their development to give them a better chance in life because we want to give kids the same opportunities we had and still have. We are privileged enough to think about vegan face creams and cleansers and considering some of the ills in the world it feels a little better when you are doing good at the same time. #socialskincare #madesimple
The question of HOW and WHAT.
Anyone who has ever been involved in charity work knows that it is not that easy to help at times, especially if you have limited time. Some organizations expect certain donation contributions if you want to help personally. Others expect time commitments of several months or even more. We are impressed and inspired by the countless volunteers who manage to do this time and time again, but also fully understand that this is not possible for everyone.
Kluuf, along with all of its customers, wants to make a tangible difference, and simply writing a check doens‘t cut it for us.
So as a first step, Kluuf has decided to work with the Hamburg-based non-profit organization "HIT - Help in Time" (HIT). Kluuf's founder Florian and HIT have worked together on many projects in the past and recently founded the South African based foundation "HIT SA" together. They share the vision to give children the opportunity for a stable, secure and self-determined life through education and support.
Our social page explains how Kluuf currently supports social projects:
Currently, sold products support already existing educational projects of HIT, while in the future own projects will be established with the support of HIT. This includes, for example, the construction of a school to give children in townships access to excellent education. When Kluuf grows strong enough, we plan to establish our own NPO (non-profit organization) to support various projects, focused on education as well.
Interested customers often ask us what their purchase actually does. However, we find it difficult to make generalized statements such as "one product sold makes five meals possible", because we cannot guarantee what exactly this product supports. Nevertheless, we want to be transparent and show what our customers achieve with their purchases (besides giving their skin the care it deserves, of course) and therefore disclose once a year - audited by HIT - how much money Kluuf('s customers) donates and what could be financed with it.
Once Kluuf is big enough to fund its own projects, it becomes even more tangible how much of a difference each customer makes with his or her purchases.
The question of sustainability
We know that our mission alone cannot eliminate all problems and inequalities in the world. But we fervently believe that every customer will make a positive difference in the life of a child with every product purchased. People who understand poverty and grievances in townships know that sometimes a smile can be something priceless and make a difference. This is meant to be just the beginning.
Finally, we hope that the attention Kluuf's mission generates will have a ripple effect: Maybe it's suppliers, customers, or influencers talking about it and bringing it to the attention of new people, who in turn inform completely different third parties unrelated to Kluuf. If this makes just one person go through life more consciously and maybe even support a project, great things have already been achieved. Furthermore, we are convinced that children who are supported by HIT and Kluuf and hopefully lead a life far away from poverty, will support the community in their townships in a few years. In this way, development aid ultimately becomes sustainable and an upward spiral of helping is triggered.
