Celebrating The Past, Freshening The Future

FRESHENING INDUSTRIES IS CONSTANTLY DREAMING UP NEW WAYS AND PRODUCTS TO CLEAN AWAY THEIR CUSTOMERS’ PROBLEMS.

By the 1990s, the humble but ubiquitous wet towel had become a mainstay in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, around the same time that homegrown company Freshening Industries developed disposable wet wipes.

Since then, Freshening’s trusty wet towels have evolved into different forms – from being individually packed to now being biodegradable, in line with recent environmental concerns.

Today, the firm supplies its biodegradable wet wipes, Smartowel Bio-D – which also come with biodegradable packaging – to more than 80% of the F&B chains in Singapore. The Smartowel Bio-D is said to be the first biodegradable wet wipe in the region. Since the launch of this product, Freshening has seen its revenue grow by an estimated 198%, alongside a 57% growth in consumer demand from 2018 to late 2019.

Freshening’s founder, Mr Albert Moh, says: ‘We launched Smartowel Bio-D two years ago, but the industry had yet to accept it. These days, they are more willing to use biodegradable products.”

“The packaging is an oxo-biodegradable wrapper (meaning it biodegrades significantly faster in the presence of oxygen) which degrades in a year, as compared to other plastic wrappers,” he adds. Normal plastic items can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.

FRESHENING INDUSTRIES IS CONSTANTLY DREAMING UP NEW WAYS AND PRODUCTS TO CLEAN AWAY THEIR CUSTOMERS’ PROBLEMS.

By the 1990s, the humble but ubiquitous wet towel had become a mainstay in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, around the same time that homegrown company Freshening Industries developed disposable wet wipes.

Since then, Freshening’s trusty wet towels have evolved into different forms – from being individually packed to now being biodegradable, in line with recent environmental concerns.

Today, the firm supplies its biodegradable wet wipes, Smartowel Bio-D – which also come with biodegradable packaging – to more than 80% of the F&B chains in Singapore. The Smartowel Bio-D is said to be the first biodegradable wet wipe in the region. Since the launch of this product, Freshening has seen its revenue grow by an estimated 198%, alongside a 57% growth in consumer demand from 2018 to late 2019.

Freshening’s founder, Mr Albert Moh, says: ‘We launched Smartowel Bio-D two years ago, but the industry had yet to accept it. These days, they are more willing to use biodegradable products.”

“The packaging is an oxo-biodegradable wrapper (meaning it biodegrades significantly faster in the presence of oxygen) which degrades in a year, as compared to other plastic wrappers,” he adds. Normal plastic items can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.