Our Story

Rewind nearly two decades, six brands, thousands of ideas and lots of crazy stories and you’ll get to the start of the Essano Limited journey. Founders Shane and AJ created the business in 2000 with a washing machine pump and a credit card, and since then have been on a relentless journey of democratisation: creating quality, natural products accessible for all.

With category leading brands, including the No.1 Natural Skincare brand in New Zealand; Essano, the business is now one of the fastest-growing FMCG companies in New Zealand. A true leader in natural beauty, Essano Limited has created certified organic, award-winning formulations and unique product ranges -now retailing in over 6,000 stores and online in countries across the globe.

Essano Limited has grown from a partnership of two Kiwi innovators to a team of talented, fun-loving experts, still based here in New Zealand.

The Founders

essano founders Anthony "AJ" Gadsdon and Shane Young were just 24 and 26 years old when they first started out.

2000

Shane & AJ meet and start making hair products together - only at this stage, it was an unused bath and a trusty credit card.

2003

Finally - After several years of producing products out of the kitchen of Shane's barber shop, they move into their first proper factory, which had only a single tank to product the goods.

2004

AJ and Shane's hair wax product, Dominate, launches into Australia in partnership with one of the major retailers.

2005

We're growing! With an increasing demand for Dominate, we move into our second factory in 2005 where we began pouring hair wax by hand into packaging.

2007

In 2007, we move into our third factory to cope with an ever-increasing demand.

2013

2014Recognizing a market gap in the women's natural skincare category, AJ and Shane set out to create affordable women's products that looked and smelt great.

2014

Armed with the ambition to pioneer natural beauty in the international stage, the brand's manufacturing operations are relocated to its fourth factory, our current headquarters at 127 Montgomerie Road.

2015

2016 The essano range now reaches double-figure, a key milestone for the business after initially launching only a handful of products through pharmacy and grocery partners in both New Zealand and Australia.

2016

2016 saw the start of our launch into Asia - first into Singapore (2016), then Malaysia (2017) and China (2018).

2020

Our international growth continues with entry into Japan and the USA market in 2020.

In the same year, the brand launches its very own online store, which ships products directly to consumers in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

October 2020

Happy birthday! We celebrated our 20th birthday in style, with an official company name change - from "Mix Limited" to "Essano Limited".