Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard teamed up with Walmart to launch an affordable, plant-based baby care line that doesn't cut any corners
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- In partnership with Walmart, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard recently launched Hello Bello, an affordable, plant-based baby line.
- The line aims to democratize great baby products so parents don't have to choose between saving money and buying the best product possible.
- Hello Bello currently makes everything from diapers and baby lotion to bug spray and natural bubble bath soap. So far, nothing is priced over $25.
After more than two years of development, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have launched Hello Bello - an affordable line of premium, plant-based baby products sold exclusively at Walmart.
The line runs the gamut of parenting essentials, from bug spray to bubble bath soap. Every product is priced under $25, yet is made with the same organic botanicals and natural, renewable ingredients that traditionally fetch prices three times higher - which, in the past, has priced out out families with stricter budgets.
Hello Bello is the couple's attempt to democratize baby care so parents don't have to choose between what's good for their baby and what's realistic for their budget. "We had the access and the resources to use the very best products on our kids," Shepard told Business Insider, "and we felt like it wasn't fair that price would be a barrier for some families who wanted to make the same choice."
When asked how the company delivers high-end products on a budget, Shepard told Business Insider it came down to "volume, volume, volume," made possible by a partnership with multinational retailer Walmart."There's no way we could have produced these products for the price we are selling them for without Walmart as a partner. It allowed us to start with an economy of scale."
A partnership with Walmart, which has over 5,000 retail stores in the US as of July 2019, also helps Hello Bello reach a greater number of families in necessarily diverse regions of the country. "We have a lot of family in the Midwest," Bell said in in a February 2019 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "And [when] we go back to Michigan, we can't find the same standard of things we want to use for our children as we can out here in 'healthy California.'"
Shepard and Bell teamed up with industry veterans like Sean Kane (co-CEO), former cofounder of The Honest Company (Jessica Alba's ethical home goods line), and design and eco-experts to create an effective, eco-friendly product line. A good example is Hello Bello's hypoallergenic diapers ($7.97 for a 35-count pack for newborns). The specially designed core uses spherical absorbers that allow the company to reduce waste (less material) while maintaining performance (more absorbency). The tech keeps kids dry by absorbing over 50 times its weight in fluid and locking wetness in leakproof bubbles. Diapers are made with sustainably harvested fluff pulp and go through 100% chlorine-free processing. They're also free of irritating fragrances and phthalates.
It's a similar story for the rest of the line, which ranges from $1.88 to $23.94. SPF 50 Sunscreen Mineral Lotion ($8.78) is reef-friendly and water-resistant. Hello Bello Bug Spray ($7.98) is made from natural essential oils and lab-tested to repel mosquitoes for up to six hours, without needing to include DEET (or phthalates and parabens). It's hypoallergenic, non-irritating, and effective for adults, kids, and pets. Plus, it's vegan.
While the product line is plant-based, that shouldn't read as ineffective. Shepard explained that the ruling priority is functionality.
In terms of production, the company says Hello Bello products are manufactured in safe, ethical factories (most of which are here in North America) to make sure its supply chain reflects the line's ethos.
As Shepard put it in an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, "I've just got a chip on my shoulder that we shouldn't get stuff that other people don't have just because we're on TV." When friends and family visited the Shepard-Bell home and used some of those nicer products, they'd say they wished they were cheaper, so they could use them too.
With Hello Bello, Shepard and Bell are now hoping they can.