Gold Coast startup Lucent Globe cleans up the competition with eco-friendly detergent sheets

With 'almost no prior experience in business' behind them when they founded Lucent Globe in March 2022, Gold Coast twins Brodie and Roger Cook have rapidly scaled up an eco-friendly detergent range that is disrupting a market ridden with waste and chemicals.

Their range of laundry and dishwashing sheets are completely biodegradable, free of plastic packaging, and plant based, while a lack of harsh chemicals also makes the solution safer for people with allergies or sensitivities.

The brothers are yet to secure a distribution deal with any major retailer. However, through a direct-to-consumer model, what began as a garage and kitchen bench operation has grown to a business with around 4,000 orders per week, based out of a new 1,200 square metre warehouse and 13 new hires.

CEO Brodie Cook says the business strategy has been optimised for growth, as the company looks to target Australians seeking cost-friendly and environmentally conscious alternatives.

"At the heart of our business model is a zero-compromise strategy, with a strong belief that households should not have to compromise on the quality or cost per clean when doing right by the planet," says Brodie, who alongside his brother won the 2023 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur - Startup award earlier this month.

"With many Australian households feeling the pressures of inflation, it is really important for us to continue offering a quality, safe and accessible solution that doesn’t have a large impact on a user’s weekly expenses.

"Our detergent sheets eliminate the need for plastic packaging and wasted water, which makes up to 90 per cent of liquid detergents. Our sheets are also pre-measured so there is no over-use."

The idea for Lucent Globe was conceived while the brothers - now aged 27 - were travelling as students and taken aback by the high levels of plastic that were contaminating the world's natural spaces, including Mount Everest.

"From our travels to places like Europe and around Asia we witnessed plastic pollution issues first-hand and with this in mind we found detergent bottles and packaging were one of the leading polluters," says Roger, who notes they were able to travel as a result of overseas internships as part of their studies of International Business at Griffith University.

"A lot of our success came through implementing self learning through YouTube videos and thorough market research to identify some emerging trends and gaps in the market.

"This, coupled with a super convenient and cost-effective product, has seen Lucent Globe grow dramatically within such a short period of time. We have achieved this growth with almost no prior experience in business and just a willingness to learn," he says.

The brothers estimate that the environmental impact of the business to date has been the swapping out of more than 40,000 plastic detergent bottles.

"We’re very encouraged by this level of growth, and looking forward to upscaling the business in coming years through the research and development of complementary cleaning products," he says.

"Our planet provides an abundance of eco-friendly compositions that can be used to effectively clean common household dirt and stains. Our focus is to leverage the power of these ingredients to deliver environmentally friendly cleaning solutions to everyday Australians.

"We’re now working with our local research and development team to test new formulas that will outperform our chemical-based counterparts and we look forward to sharing the new range with our customers."

The brothers were also finalists in the Sustainability & Social Responsibility category at the 2023 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards, which was won by Joel Prokic, Matthew Nikolai & Jason Smit of G1 Asset Management.

The Cooks are now finalists in the Startup category at the 2023 Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards, to be held on the Gold Coast on 25 November.