When Keedo contacted us with the possibility of collaborating, it felt like a dream. After all, Keedo is a South African legend, and big corporates don’t often support small businesses. One year later, that dream has become a reality, and we’ve been bubbling with excitement to share our new Ubuntu Baba x Keedo Stage 1 baby carrier.
We recently collaborated with the well-known local kids’ clothing brand Keedo to create a special Stage 1 carrier.
Keedo was founded in 1993 when Nelia Annandale was inspired by the needs of her twin ‘Keedos’ to develop a colourful range of clothing that offered unrestricted comfort in soft, natural fibres.
“For as long as I can remember, I have experienced an overwhelming compulsion to serve the children of the world. I believe that we must begin investing in them from their formative years as they are the ones who will be fashioning the future,” she said at the time.
Annandale harnessed her entrepreneurial drive and creativity and built a business on the pillars of education, care, and sustainability. In 2017, Keedo was acquired by the Cape Union Mart Group, which consists of five major retail chains (Cape Union Mart, K-Way, Old Khaki, Poetry, and Tread+Miller) and has more than 300 stores.
Similarly, our founder, Shannon’s experiences as a mom and her struggle to find the perfect baby carrier inspired her to start Ubuntu Baba. She and her father designed the exact baby carrier that she’d been looking for: “hip-healthy”, easy to use, breathable, adjustable, in natural hemp fibre and very gentle on c-section healing.
Mari Crause of Keedo Kids explains how the collaboration came about. “Being a mom myself, I relied on my Ubuntu Baba carrier for hands-free baby carrying, to settle my little bub when she was inconsolable. Our Ubuntu Baba carrier went everywhere with us and at one point we were inseparable. I loved being so very close to my baby and it allowed me to have her right up against my chest, safe and snug, whenever, wherever.
“Reflecting on the early days of Motherhood, my Ubuntu Baba carrier was one of the items I could not have done without. Everything about Ubuntu Baba speaks to me, especially the fact that the brand was locally founded by a Mamma just like me. I appreciate the product’s classic design; it is not only aesthetically pleasing but also perfectly practical and adjustable. I could not keep this secret to myself and when I joined Keedo Kids, Ubuntu Baba’s founder was the first person I reached out to for a collaboration.”
On the same page.
In the discussions that followed, we discovered several synergies between the two companies. Like us, Keedo invests in local manufacturing and job creation, and we share a lot of the same values.
“We hopped onto a Zoom call, which included Nelia Annandale and five minutes into the call I was so emotional,” Shannon says. “Nelia made us feel so valued for what we are trying to do as a local brand, the values we shared, and the way we like to do things. It was just such a contrast from my last experience with a large corporate entity, and I felt so honoured that they wanted to collaborate in a way that is beneficial to both brands.”
Collaborations like this highlight how corporates should be supporting local small businesses. When a large corporate aligns with a small business based on a genuine intention to help them grow, this builds trust and loyalty among consumers, “it’s a win-win,” Shannon says.
As a team, we are excited to reach more parents with our product and raise awareness about how much babywearing can help new parents bring more peaceful moments to their daily lives with a new baby.
Available online now and selected Keedo stores countrywide.
