Toby and Katie Gibson’s Berry-based business, Totem Eco, has cleaned up at the Clean + Conscious Awards. Photo: Toby Gibson.
A Berry couple’s business has come up smelling like roses in the trans-Tasman Clean and Conscious Awards 2025.
Toby and Katie Gibson grew up on the South Coast before life took them elsewhere, but when COVID hit they knew it was time to come home.
“We wanted to give our kids the same sort of childhood we had,” Toby said.
“That’s when we started to realise how unregulated the cosmetics industry is in Australia, and how many nasty chemicals are in different products.”
Thanks to lockdowns, the couple found themselves with some extra time on their hands and began to get creative.
Toby was formerly a research scientist, and Katie had worked as a makeup artist. They thought they could combine their skills and interest in all-natural products to create a market-leading natural deodorant.
“We had already switched to natural deodorants and thought we could do it better,” Toby said.
“In addition to being all natural we don’t use palm oil, are vegan and cruelty-free and don’t use bicarb soda because it’s cheap and can cause skin irritation.
“We wanted to make something that ticked all those boxes, actually works, and feels nice with ingredients sourced as locally as we could.”
They also wanted to create a product that came in a compostable tube, rather than a paste.
Toby said it took about a year to get the formula right without the use of synthetic stabilisers – but they did it.
“We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved,” he said.
“We wanted to leave our kids a legacy and a planet with less plastic packaging and we’ve been able to achieve that.”
This year their hard work was recognised when their Blue Gum deodorant stick won gold for best deodorant at the Clean + Conscious Awards 2025.
The brand also picked up a second accolade, with its Kakadu Rose natural deodorant stick taking silver in the sensitive category.
The Clean + Conscious Awards spotlight Australia and New Zealand’s most sustainable and ethical products, with winners undergoing rigorous testing by a panel of leading experts across health, beauty, sustainability and media.
“Being a finalist alongside all these big brands we respected was a big deal in itself,” Toby said.
“To win in such amazing company is incredible.
“It shows a small family business from the South Coast can create products that compete with the best in the country.”
Despite the accolades, Toby said you needed to head online or to a health-food store to buy one of their products.
Although the couple has been approached by supermarkets keen to stock their product he said it wasn’t possible to scale up their operation without cutting corners on ingredients and quality, which they aren’t prepared to do.
“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved, and we’ll keep working with retailers whose values align with ours,” he said.
