Julie Wilson set up Cheeky Chompers with Co-Director, Amy, eight years ago when they were both on maternity leave from their previous jobs.

We caught up with Julie to find out how the brand was born…

“Cheeky Chompers was the result of  a gap we spotted in the market for a teething solution that couldn’t get dropped or dirty, and so we created the Neckerchew – the World’s first dribble bib with teether attached. 

Now we sell a wide range of baby and teething essentials each with an intuitive twist to help make parents lives easier. We are so proud to be an award-winning trusted global brand selling in over 1,500 retailers across 49 countries worldwide, including large national stores such as John Lewis, Jo Jo Maman Bebe, The White Company, Lloyds Pharmacy and Smyths. We are also stocked in many smaller independents and of course sell direct to our customers on our website.”

What sets Cheeky Chompers apart from its competitors?

“Our brand and story are at the heart of everything that we do; all our products are made by Mums who understand and care! We identified a genuine gap in the market for a product that didn’t exist that helped millions of parents with their teething babies and ‘helping make parents’ lives easier’ continues to be central to our core values.

We spend crucial time, research and focus on making our products the most intuitive, helpful, stylish, safe and of premium quality. To ensure happy babies, happy parents and carers worldwide. We are super proud of our 4.9/5 Excellent Trustpilot rating, which along with our numerous industry product award wins, helps to reassure us and our customers that Cheeky Chompers products are the safe and stylish baby products of choice!”

Today’s parents are more discerning than ever – how do you keep your brand in line with current trends?

“We love hearing from so many parents, customers and retailers around the world about how they use, love and depend on our products. By listening to and understanding the issues and trends that parents are experiencing right now, we can make sure we are communicating our product benefits and brand appropriately to meet their needs, as well as factoring in all the feedback for future product development.”

How do you scale for growth while staying true to your founding principles?

“We’ve enjoyed rapid growth and are delighted to have sold more than one and a half million Cheeky Chompers products around the world, whilst still keeping our founding principles at the centre of everything we do. 

It’s so important to us as mums that what we sell to parents really does deliver, especially in terms of quality, functionality, safety and style to ensure it makes their lives easier. We spend a lot of time on the sourcing, design and testing to ensure this is the case! Maintaining a market appropriate price is also a constant consideration and we work hard to constantly innovate, refresh and stay one step ahead!

We have loved developing our own business and our core team is crucial to keeping us grounded and true to our values and vision as we grow. We try our best to live by our values in all areas of the business, from our approach to scaling up, our customer service and retail account management to considering plans to enter a new market.

Cheeky Chompers HQ is based in Edinburgh, however we benefit from a worldwide infrastructure spanning manufacturing, sourcing, warehousing, distribution, quality control, design and sales. We like to be big enough to seize opportunities, but small enough to care! Eight years into the business and although it has been a very difficult past year, we are weathering the storm and going from strength to strength with exciting new products launching later this year.”

Why should a retailer stock Cheeky Chompers?

“We offer a beautiful premium range of products that attract parents and gift-buyers looking for quality, stylish and safe solutions for the special little ones in their life. Retailers can be rest assured that they are stocking a trusted global premium brand, with local roots.

Parents around the world constantly tell us they make perfect gifts and must-have baby purchases! As our range has expanded, retailers are benefiting from increased basket size as customers buy their teething bibs, sensory toys and blankets from across the range. Our packaging is versatile from a display perspective and has great visual impact in merchandising. Stocking and working with Cheeky Chompers, retailers will get a personal, welcoming reception and account management, alongside nimble, flexible, reliable and speedy shipping of orders!”

Tell us more about the Dragons’ Den experience

“It was interesting and terrifying, but certainly worth it for Cheeky Chompers! BBC’s Dragons’ Den approached us to appear on the show, soon after we started 8 years ago. We had a terrific response from all the Dragons in the show. Whilst we did not get investment from the Dragons, each of them gave Cheeky Chompers glowing endorsements and it proved to be a fantastic brand awareness exercise with over 30,000 people on our website within hours. We’re pleased to say that we smashed all the figures the Dragons’ dismissed within a year of business so we’re one of the ones that got away!”

What do you enjoy about being in the baby business?

“Working in the baby market is a lot of fun; it feels in many ways we are all in it together and have similar experiences and I feel I can always relate to it having been through it myself as a parent. We have a genuine passion for our business and the difference we can make to making parents lives easier. I really love hearing from so many parents about how they use our products and the gorgeous photos of many cheeky little ones using them is very motivational.”

Can you share any specific plans or developments for Cheeky Chompers for the year ahead?

“We are determined to continue to grow and expand our brand, despite the huge challenges that coronavirus has thrown at us. This year we have seen that many of our customers choose Cheeky Chompers as their baby gift of choice so we are constantly developing and expanding our innovative gift offering. Our focus is also on the huge potential we have to grow our business in Asia and the US, as well as continuing to grow here in the UK. We love bringing new designs and products to market and 2021 is no exception to that, so watch this space!”

Contact details for retailers to find out more:

Website: www.cheekychompers.com

Email: sales@cheekychompers.com

Facebook @cheekychompers

Twitter @cheekychompers

Instagram @cheekychompers