Ultifresh, the S’pore biz promoting t-shirts at S$4 is proving everybody else overpriced

Ultifresh started as a B2B model, however now its inexpensive attire can also be accessible in merchandising machines

In at the moment’s economic system, it’s uncommon to discover a high quality t-shirt for simply S$4—however Ultifresh has been making that attainable. 

Since its launch in 2018, the model has offered tens of millions of t-shirts in Singapore and world wide, all whereas tackling one of many trend trade’s greatest challenges: sustainability. 

We spoke to its co-founders, Frank Yap and Gerald Eng, each 37, to uncover the journey behind Ultifresh and the way it goals to remodel the worldwide attire scene.

Alternatives within the clothes trade

Ultifresh was initially spearheaded by Frank, whose entrepreneurial journey started in 2010 at simply 22.

After leaving Nanyang Technological College after solely two months in Electrical and Digital Engineering, he was decided to forge his personal path. He recognized a niche in Singapore’s uniform market again then, which was dominated by bland designs and restricted cloth choices.

Undeterred by his household’s reservations, Frank moved to Guangzhou, China, that very same yr to launch his first attire firm in a three way partnership, beginning with only one manufacturing unit employee. Disagreements along with his companion ultimately led him to depart 4 years later, by which era he had grown the operation to over 20 staff, producing S$150,000 in month-to-month income and serving purchasers throughout each China and Singapore.

Frank nonetheless noticed alternatives within the clothes realm and, armed with S$30,000 from his share in his first firm, quickly launched Attire Empire, which at the moment claims to be Singapore’s largest customisable attire producer for corporates. The corporate serves each small and enormous native and worldwide purchasers, together with Harvard and Meta.

The thought for Ultifresh got here from Frank’s expertise working Attire Empire. Through the years, he noticed the environmental value of conventional cloth manufacturing and upkeep. Washing a single t-shirt can devour roughly two to 4 litres of water every time, and the style trade additionally contributes considerably to greenhouse fuel emissions.

Frank realised that tackling the environmental footprint of clothes by means of higher cloth expertise—significantly by lowering washing—was a tangible approach to make a distinction.

Conventional materials are vulnerable to trapping micro organism. Sweat, heat, and moisture create a breeding floor for mould and bacterial development that collectively emit a foul odor after one or two wears. Ultifresh sought to unravel this downside by leveraging anti-bacterial and anti-odour expertise.

Whereas manufacturers like Underneath Armour already supply related efficiency materials, their excessive costs will be off-putting. Frank needed to create a extra accessible various, specializing in making high-quality, practical anti-bacterial attire inexpensive for on a regular basis customers.

As such, Frank invested S$700,000 to launch Ultifresh in 2018, and introduced his good friend Gerald on board—who has years of attire gross sales and advertising expertise—to assist develop the enterprise.

It took two years for them to develop their anti-bacterial t-shirts

Each bit of Ultifresh’s flagship product, its anti-bacterial dry-fit polyester t-shirt, goes for round S$4.

“We wish individuals to know that despite the fact that we’re a first-world nation, we don’t must promote our garments at S$100 a chunk,” he mentioned.

Moreover t-shirts, Ultifresh provides caps, jackets, and formal shirts, all developed with its proprietary expertise.

It took Frank two years to develop this expertise earlier than launching the model in 2018. The anti-bacterial therapy is utilized after cloth manufacturing by soaking the freshly made attire in an in-house resolution, making it versatile and appropriate for any sort of material.

He labored with Chinese language cloth engineers to good a formulation that’s each secure and in a position to face up to repeated washes.

Ultifresh’s assessments present that the expertise eliminates 99.94% of micro organism, permitting a garment to be worn as much as thrice with out smelling unhealthy. 

Pivoting throughout a pandemic

Ultifresh primarily operated on a B2B mannequin in its early days, supplying companies by means of its on-line retailer or promoting white-label repackaged attire.

The model, nonetheless, confronted a difficult launch and struggled to realize recognition in its early years. “Initially, Gerald even needed to go door-to-door to inform individuals about our Ultifresh attire,” mentioned Frank.

In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a workers member instructed producing masks, given the worldwide surge in demand. 

As such, Frank and Gerald took the leap and invested S$900,000 to launch a disposable masks product line beneath the Ultifresh model, supplying to Singaporean and Malaysian corporations. The pivot paid off, with over 60 pharmacies in Malaysia alone providing its merchandise.

Leaning again on Attire Empire’s experience in customisation, the duo quickly supplied reusable, customisable masks as properly, growing Ultifresh’s visibility globally and boosting attire gross sales as soon as demand picked up once more.

Rising their presence throughout the globe

When demand for attire returned, Ultifresh pivoted again to attire gross sales.

Regardless of making solely “round 10 cents” per t-shirt, the co-founders declare that Ultifresh’s lean margins are offset by excessive quantity, and high quality is rarely compromised. Frank and Gerald additionally shared that they don’t consider in taking a lot from the corporate, the place they “preserve their very own salaries low whereas paying their staff pretty.”

“Conserving our retail worth low encourages customers to attempt our attire for themselves. Once they do, they typically come again for extra due to how sturdy it’s,” Gerald added.

At present, Ultifresh has over 5,000 companions throughout Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, China, and Singapore, who both distribute Ultifresh merchandise or repackage them beneath their very own logos. These corporations, in keeping with Frank, promote about 10,000 t-shirts a day internationally.

However Ultifresh just isn’t content material with simply supplying to companies. It’s now making a transfer to aggressively cater to customers.

Since Jun, Ultifresh has focused customers immediately by putting in clothes merchandising machines in Singapore, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia.

Eighty of those have been positioned in areas like bus interchanges, MRT stations, border checkpoints, and malls. Knowledge-driven insights assist inventory the proper sizes and hues for every locale, catering to the wants of shoppers everywhere in the world.

In Singapore, college students beneath the city-state’s monetary help scheme are employed at S$30/hour to behave as model ambassadors—they’re stationed close to the merchandising machines to assist attract clients, permitting Ultifresh to construct an area presence whereas giving the scholars some further pocket cash.

Total, greater than 15 million of Ultifresh’s flagship t-shirts have been offered. The corporate has a 40,000 sq ft warehouse in Johor Bahru to retailer inventory.

Trying forward

Shifting ahead, the founders intention to broaden into extra nations, persevering with to offer sustainable, high-quality, and inexpensive clothes whereas serving to to curb quick trend worldwide.

India is subsequent on their radar, because of its massive inhabitants, sizzling local weather, and excessive market potential. Certainly one of Ultifresh’s companions there highlighted temperatures reaching 55°C in some areas, coupled with water shortages, underscoring the necessity for breathable, odor-resistant attire.

Finally, the corporate hopes to develop additional. Since its launch, Ultifresh has come a great distance, with income rising 300-fold—from S$31,370 to S$9.43 million in simply seven years.

• Study extra about Ultifresh right here.
• Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Ultifresh