Ecoman: From a Garage in Northland to a Pioneering Global Brand

by Malcolm Rands

The story of how Malcolm Rands, an organic gardener and hippy from Northland in New Zealand, built the pioneering global brand ecostore.
Malcolm Rands started ecostore from New Zealand's first permaculture eco-village with his wife Melanie in 1993. They sourced local manufacturers to make a range of organic gardening, home cleaning and body care products for the then mail-order business in the dug-out basement of their home. Twenty years on and Malcolm has developed ecostore into a multi-million dollar business. Its distinctive products are on the shelves of supermarkets and health stores in New Zealand, Australia, the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and China, and they are poised for further global expansion.
This inspirational memoir gives an insight into the mind of an entrepreneur, activist and true Kiwi ‘superhero'. It's a fascinating story of humble beginnings, taking on the multinationals and their nasty chemicals, bucking the trend and setting a new standard of healthier living.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

Reviews

[Geraldine Tew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story of an eco-preneur. The first half of the book jumps around but after about 100 pages the story settles about the ecostore journey. Loved the values in the book combined with business expertise.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome to read the history of one of our own iconic NZ household brands.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read but more about him setting up ecostore than his life story

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for an entrepreneurship uni paper. It was quite an interesting take on what it means to be an entrepreneur and create an international business with strong 'hippie' values.

[Freyja · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Interesting Concept, But Lacked Depth

Ecoman had the potential to be a truly inspiring read, telling the story of Malcolm Rands' journey from humble beginnings to building a global brand. However, I found it lacking in the depth and insight I was hoping for.

While the story of Rands' success is interesting, the book felt more like a promotional piece rather than a deeply reflective memoir. It skimmed over key moments of struggle and growth, leaving me wanting more in terms of the challenges and lessons learned throughout his journey. The writing was fairly straightforward, and I didn’t feel a strong emotional connection to Rands’ story.

The concept of building a sustainable, eco-friendly business is something I find fascinating, but the book didn’t go into enough detail about the practical aspects of running such a business or the obstacles he faced in the process. It felt more like a surface-level overview rather than a comprehensive look at his entrepreneurial journey.

Overall, Ecoman was a decent read, but it didn’t provide the level of inspiration or depth I was hoping for. It might appeal to those interested in the business side of eco-friendly ventures, but for me, it didn’t offer enough substance.

[Ang · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy book to get into, friendly in tone and upbeat in manner. One gets the sense of the authors energy driving the book along, all positive and perhaps a reflection of 'living the future now', one of Mr. Rands' catchphrases. Lovely to read something too, that has words like, 'kismet' and 'serendipity' in the explanations. I found the personal / life history interesting and a great foundation to start the book, and also a nice way to conclude. For the main though the book is more about business and in some sense constantly reinforcing the values and vision of Mr. Rands - and as such, his great brand.

My rating of 3/5 is because, given my impression from the first few chapters, I think I wanted [not expected] more from this book. At some point it seemed that 'business' overtook 'story' - however, I can appreciate it would be a tricky balance for it is a story about a business! There are some great insights to business, and some great messages, I would think, for someone just starting out in business. However, it is also a book about the man and in that sense I think Mr. Rands has more to share, on motivation and inspiration.

[Anu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first half of the book describing the origins of the author, life in ecovillages, the voluntary simplicity of his family's lifestyle - the stories painted a vivid, enjoyable picture of his life. Of course, the content around creation of non-toxic cleaning products and the details of that industry was fascinating to know more details about. The second half felt like it devolved into too much of a marketing spin though. The reason readers are even reading this book is that they've bought into the importance of using eco friendly products and most likely, the ecostore brand itself. The selling overwhelmed the actual story in the latter half and felt like reading a company's catalog.

The author's authentic narrative redeems the book of the overzealous selling though - it was refreshing to see such an honest and down-to-earth tenor about the highs and lows of building the ecostore brand and what that meant to the lives of the author and his family. Overall, good read.

[Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insight into the origins of eco-friendly cleaning products company ecostore, and the motivations of its founders, Malcolm and Melanie Rands. Good Kiwi grassroots DIY stuff. It definitely made me want to use clean, healthy household cleaners and body care products, and find out more about what's in some of the products we use. It also made me wary of the greenwash and watering down of some other companies. I haven't yet found a toothpaste that contains fluoride but does not contain triclosan, a bactericide that I want to avoid.

[Kyle Wadsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

His eco-stance is inspiring as he shared a real dream with his family that became an incredible reality. He's very honest about his successes and failures, and talks about what he learnt from them. I enjoyed finishing the book, but found it tiresome at times. I'm curious to now try ecostore products and see if the results he talks about really do come true - ie. no allergies with their products. All in all, a interesting read from a 'different' kiwi.

[Yolande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Background story of the company and building the brand and a conscious lifestyle was inspiring. You could certainly "hear" the author's passion for his brand, planet, life choices etc. his passion did get a bit repetitive and the story did ramble a bit, tighter editing would have served the book better. I only read about 80% of the book because of this. Inspiring story though, kiwi doggedness and ingenuity at its best.

[Emily Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading into the history of this pioneering Kiwi brand. I saw Malcolm speak at TedX Auckland a few months back and thought his story was awesome. He is the perfect example of how successful your business can be if it is your passion - you can view his TedX talk here if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5wIBR...

[Sarah Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read. Malcolm comes across as a friendly and approachable man which makes this a very enjoyable read. Inspired by the ecostore journey.

[Julieanne Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

very readable. kiwis will resonate with his ethos, I certainly did.