What I Hope for ARU

A few thoughts from Sapphire on bringing Mum's cream back, and where I hope it might go from here.

When I first brought ARU back, I knew there were at least a few people still looking for it.

My plan was really just to make a small batch for those who had asked about it and put a little message out into the world: ARU is here again if you've been looking for it.

There wasn't a grand business plan. I simply wanted to get Mum's cream back into the hands of the people who remembered it and wanted it. Mum had been so determined to keep ARU available, and for the first time in many years I felt capable of doing something about that, even on a tiny scale.

What I didn't expect was the response.

Messages started arriving thanking me for bringing it back. People shared incredibly heartfelt stories about what ARU had meant to them and their families, some going back 20 or 30 years.

That changed things for me.

I had wondered whether ARU was really still needed. There are countless creams available now that weren't around when Mum first created it. Surely people would have found something else?

But people kept reaching out. They remembered ARU. They trusted it. Some had continued looking for it.

At that point I realised I couldn't really bring it back halfway any more.

So, here we are. I'm bringing ARU back properly - as carefully as I can.

What I'd love ARU to become

My dream is to see ARU back in independent health-food shops, easy to find when someone is looking for it.

But I'd love it to go further than that.

I'd love ARU to have a life of its own again, to reach a point where I don't have to explain what it is to everyone because people are recommending it to each other, just as they did when Mum made it.

There are other things I'd love to bring back too.

Mum had ARU shampoo, bath foam, shower wash and liquid soap for a time, and I'd love eventually to create that wider range again. I'd also like smaller 60ml jars, larger family-sized jars and, of course, borage oil on its own.

There are lots of ideas. I just can't do them all at once.

One step at a time

Right now, I'm concentrating on getting the cream itself established. I've explored whether we could reduce production costs, but the alternatives we've tried simply haven't had the same quality. I'm not prepared to make ARU cheaper by making the cream worse. Hence the pricing restructure!

I've also started approaching independent health-food shops. I know that may take time. I'm a tiny business appearing in someone's inbox asking them to take a chance on a cream they may never have heard of - although I'm quietly hoping a few might remember it!

There are definitely moments when I wonder whether I can actually do this.

ARU is still very small, resources are limited, and trying to bring something back while doing justice to what Mum created can feel daunting.

But I just have to keep going. Rome wasn't built in a day.

I don't know exactly where ARU will go from here. I'm learning as I go, taking opportunities when they come and trying to make decisions that give it the best chance of having a real future.

My hope isn't necessarily for ARU to become enormous.

I want it to become secure enough to stay.

To be back on the shelves of independent health-food shops. To be there when someone goes looking for it. And to be discovered by people who never knew Mum or the story behind it.

Most of all, I hope I can look back one day and know that I gave what Mum created the chance it deserved.

Thank you to everyone who's helping me do that.

Sapphire x