BRAND HIGHLIGHT: JAWS, JUST ADD WATER SYSTEM
Name: Bruce Yacko
Role: President, CEO
Brand Name: JAWS, Just Add Water System
The Simple Question Every Founder Must Answer: What's My Story?
I embarked on a mission to encourage consumers to “rethink the way they clean”. About 91% of plastic ends up in landfills. Why should perfectly usable spray bottles be discarded when they can be reused again and again. My goal was to provide an easy, convenient way to refill and reuse bottles with highly effective cleaners designed to work on the surfaces in your home.
How did you get your idea for the business?
In the commercial cleaning market, janitors and housekeeping staffs use concentrated cleaners and refill their bottle over and over. Why shouldn’t consumers do the same? Consumers have water in their homes – so why are we shipping full bottles of ready-to-use cleaners when instead, we can ship small concentrated refill pods. JAWS is the first U.S. company to put super-concentrated liquid cleaners in a cartridge The JAWS cartridge makes it easy and convenient for consumers to use concentrates. Most household cleaners are 90 to 97 percent water. The remainder is the cleaning ingredient. Why should you and the environment pay for companies to ship water?!
What makes your company different?
We are a 60-year-old business that continues to innovate and bring new products to the market place. We have been manufacturing cleaning products for use in commercial space and Commercial Cleaning Services have used millions of JAWS Cartridges to clean schools, hotels, restaurants and offices. We are bringing market-proven cleaning solutions to consumers for use in their home. JAWS, Just add Water System, is the original pod-powered brand in the market.
What does sustainability in the market mean to your brand?
JAWS, Just Add Water System brand is sustainable in many ways:
We package concentrated cleaners in small cartridges to be used with JAWS reusable bottles. By reusing the bottle again and again, you are reducing plastic waste: Less plastic is thrown into landfills, and 75% less plastic is used to make refill Pods.
By shipping concentrated cleaner in small refill Pods, up to 30 truckloads of ready-to-use cleaner can be consolidated into 1 truckload, because JAWS refill PODS are smaller and lighter than bottles of household cleaners that contain mostly water. That means fewer trips, lighter loads, improved gas mileage for trucks and potentially millions of dollars saved on fuel.
JAWS Cleaners are produced with the safest chemicals and 6 cleaners have earned the SAFER CHOICE Label. When a product has the Safer Choice label, it means that every intentionally added ingredient in the product has been evaluated by EPA scientists. Only the safest possible functional ingredients are allowed in products with the Safer Choice label.
To what do you attribute your success?
Positive perseverance.
What is unique about your business?
It was founded 60 years ago on two principles: Quality and Innovation. These two cornerstones of our business live today.
If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and work every minute of every day toward making that vision a reality.