With a Golden Ticket win at Walmart’s recent Open Call this past October, as well as recent deals with Meijer and Sobey’s (and a Drug Store News Buyers Choice Award to boot), Eco Bandage has surely hit its stride over the past two years. 

But what might appear to be an overnight success has really been more than a decade in the making, as the company has continuously incorporated buyer feedback from ECRM Sessions into its product’s formulation, packaging, strategies and operations. The result is success at the shelf, and some new line extensions that are on the way, too!

I recently sat for a conversation with Eco Bandage Co-Founder & CEO Kiowa Kavovit, who shared her journey with the brand and what she has learned along the way (watch the full video interview below, or listen to the audio on our podcast, Winning Pitches with RangeMe & ECRM).

The Genesis: A Child’s Curiosity and 10 Years of Science

The concept for Eco Bandage didn't start in a corporate boardroom; it started with a four-year-old who hated the look and feel of traditional "sticker" bandages. Kavovit, alongside her father Andy – who as the Co-Founder of Hatched Hub has a lot of experience building successful brands – came up with a solution for a new kind of liquid bandage, and even pitched an early version of the concept on Shark Tank when she was just six years old.

However, having a great idea is only the first step. It took another decade of formulation to create a stable, FDA-approved product that met Kavovit’s exacting standards. For example, unlike traditional liquid bandages that can become crusty and dig into the skin, Eco Bandage utilizes a unique cellulose base that helps maintain its flexibility. In addition, this flexible polymer provides one-step wound care by including an antiseptic directly in the formula. 

But the real differentiator, and what Kavovit means when she refers to Eco Bandage as where "makeup meets medicine," is the pigment. While most liquid bandages are a clear liquid, Eco Bandage is available in several skin tones, as well as some fun colors that, as it turns out, users enjoy showing off. 

"It comes in a bottle, you brush it on, and there are a couple of  skin tones and then fun colors as well," says Kavovit. "Chunky sticker bandages are also not very sustainable. Over 10 billion end up in oceans and landfills every single year, which is insane. So in our little bottle, over a hundred sticker bandages is what it equals."

Fewer sticker bandages equals less waste, which is better for the environment. Hence the name, Eco Bandage. 

Success right out of the gate: Eco Bandage’s 1st ECRM Session

Eco Bandage’s trajectory skyrocketed following its first ECRM Health Care session in 2024. That’s when the brand won a Drug Store News Buyers Choice Award, and had two buyer meetings that eventually turned into retail deals: one with Meijer and one with Canadian retail chain Sobeys. 

I jokingly say that I actually helped with the Meijer win. During that first Session, I accidentally sliced open my thumb stupidly playing with some razors that were displayed among the Buyers Choice Award entrants in the hospitality area. So I walked over to the Eco bandage meeting space while they were pitching the buyer, and let them do a real live demo on me (once the bleeding stopped). "I'm pitching explaining what the product is, and my mom's over in the corner dabbing Joe's bleeding thumb,” recalls Kavovit. 

But I can’t take all of the credit. The Eco Bandage team does have a great pitch, and with or without my bleeding thumb, I’m sure they would have landed the deal anyway.

The power of feedback: Securing the Walmart Golden Ticket

At that first ECRM Session Kavovit also had a meeting that would eventually help land Eco Bandage a Golden Ticket at Walmart Open Call a year and a half later. It’s a great example of how acting on feedback from a buyer meeting can result in business down the road. While the brand wasn't quite ready for a partnership of Walmart’s scale yet, the buyer from Walmart provided Kavovit with a roadmap for future success with them.

"She gave us a ton of valuable feedback that we really focused on the most this past year,” says Kavovit. “This included getting our supply chain secure, securing secondary manufacturing, working on our packaging, and working on our identity." 

When the brand becomes the buyer: ECRM's Contract Manufacturing Sessions

The result of this input from Walmart and other buyers led to Kavovit putting on her buyer’s hat as a participant at ECRM’s Contract Manufacturing Sessions to find American-based, family-owned partners for her packaging needs and secondary manufacturers to help accommodate greater volume. 

Kavovit notes that being on the other side of the table taught her the importance of listening and brevity. "Doing a quick pitch, getting in all the points that I can, and then really leaving a lot of time to find out what they need or what they can do,” she says. “The meetings taught me to leave room for the other people."

Eco Bandage’s approach to packaging has evolved significantly based on its learnings from both the buyers and contract manufacturers. Originally, the brand wanted to be "zero waste," using only a glass bottle with no secondary box. However, this led to two major hurdles: theft and shelf presence. Without a box, the product was too easy to steal and lacked the "billboard space" necessary to educate a customer walking down a crowded first-aid aisle. "We realized that we needed the space to be able to call out to the customer walking down the aisle and tell them what we were and what we were doing,” says Kavovit.  

As a result, Eco Bandage found a middle ground, using sustainable paper packaging that allowed for larger "value packs." As a happy accident, they also discovered that customers and buyers preferred a two-pack option, which also gave the brand a larger physical footprint on the shelf while using fewer packaging materials.

All of the hard work paid off. By the time they walked into the Walmart Open Call this past October, they had been emailing the buyer their packaging ideas and progress reports for months. This pre-existing relationship and the actions Kavovit took based on the buyer’s regular input, resulted in Eco Bandage’s Golden Ticket.

What’s next for Eco Bandage

As Eco Bandage continues to evolve, Kavovit no longer views the brand as just a "bandage" company; rather, it’s a "second skin" platform. The brand recently onboarded a leading dermatologist, Dr. Ish Bhatia, as a medical and innovation advisor, and with his guidance, it’s moving into clinical divisions, targeting everything from warts and cold sores to burns and blisters.

One coming launch is the liquid pimple patch. By offering a flexible, skin-tone-matched treatment that can be worn under makeup, Eco Bandage is addressing a massive market of consumers who want to treat acne without a visible plastic sticker. "We believe healing should look good and feel better,” says Kavovit. 

Looks like the retail buyers are starting to agree!

Watch the full video interview here!