Backpack innovator sets her sights closer to home

Covid moved business's focus away from adventure-seeking abroad to getting out and about on home soil

Fiona Parfrey: Her lightbulb moment kept during a four-month trip through Asia.

Discomfort can act as a spur to innovation — and it set Fiona Parfrey on an entrepreneurial path. 

The idea that would transform into her company,SunDrift, occurred to her during a four-month, solo backpacking trip through Asia.

“As I was travelling alone, I was spending a lot of time in female dorms and I noticed a common theme — other women complaining about their backpacks,” Fiona recalled of her light-bulb moment.

“Throughout my 20s, I was an avid traveller and I despised the variety of backpacks on the market. They were heavy, inefficient, and just didn’t look very nice.”

Realising she wasn’t the only woman complaining about the backpacks, Fiona designed her own.

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“I got to work while on the road and, by the time I returned to Ireland, I was ready to start the sampling phase," she says.

“It was perfect timing, as I was returning home from spending a few years living in Australia and didn’t have work lined up.

“Before I knew it, I was becoming obsessed with fixing this problem.”

SunDrift backpack

After several months and many rounds of prototyping, Fiona had two lightweight backpacks, which were ergonomically structured to fit female curves.

“And they were bright and beautiful to represent the adventure they were to be used on,” she says.

Adapting to the changed circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cork native turned her eye to another under-serviced market: Ireland.

“We’ve totally expanded our product range in the last 12 months,” Fiona says.

“Prior to Covid, we were very much focused on the travel market, targeting young backpackers.

The pandemic forced us to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

With that, she realised that exploring the planet doesn’t just have to be seeking adventure abroad, but can be getting outdoors on home soil.

“And, of course, spending time in nature is proven to be beneficial for mental health, which is so important with everything going on,” Fiona says. 

“So, we’ve diversified our range to cater towards an outdoor lifestyle. We’ve got eco-friendly products that are perfect for hiking, swimming, camping, or even just having a picnic in the park.”

Tapping into the huge, nationwide enthusiasm over the past year for sea swimming, Fiona’s innovative changing robes have proven very popular.

SunDrift quick-dry towels

“Sea swimming has grown massively across Ireland and the UK in recent years,” she says. 

“People are not only realising the health benefits, but are also more willing to jump in the Irish Sea, as they don’t have the choice of the Mediterranean right now.

“What I’ve found is that people who sea swim regularly also care very much about keeping the oceans clean.”

“So, it was a no-brainer for me to create a changing robe that would keep people nice and snug, but also keep waste out of the sea by manufacturing it with recycled plastic. 

"This plastic would otherwise end up as landfill and, eventually, end up causing harm to marine life.”

Fiona’s SunDrift robes come in a range of colours, all produced with an environmental awareness in tune with the zeitgeist of 2021.

“Although most of our sales come from Ireland and the UK, we have customers from all over the world,” Fiona says.

“We’ve shipped to almost 30 countries, as far as Australia and Canada, and we’ve seen great interest from customers in France and the Netherlands, which has been a nice discovery.”

Potential growth

Fiona sees significant potential for SunDrift in the North American market.

“We’re speaking with a number of potential partners, who could help us with distribution within the US and Canada, so, hopefully, towards the end of 2021 we will have an efficient supply chain set up for this region.”

Recalling the early days of SunDrift, Fiona was forced, like many an entrepreneur, to use her own money.

“SunDrift is self-funded,” she says. “I used all of my personal savings that I had put away while working in Australia and got a small loan from Microfinance Ireland.”

All of the revenue since SunDrift launched 18 months ago has been re-invested into product development and marketing. 

“From a personal perspective, this isn’t the easiest — but I am focused on the long-term goal and believe it will pay off eventually. 

"Thankfully, I have an incredible support network and have managed to make a small living on the side through consultancy work, so I can pay the bills in the short-term.

"Most importantly, I get to work for myself and bring a brand to life."

While Covid-19 has had a disastrous effect on many businesses, SunDrift has prospered, not alone on the strength of its workmanship and design, but also from being in the right place at the right time.

The pandemic has definitely helped people to realise what a beautiful country we live in. 

"We’ve all been cooped up for far too long, and I think people have realised how beneficial spending time outdoors is for our headspace and general wellbeing.

"People are craving the freedom to be able to walk in the woods or stroll along a beach without breaking any rules.

“We’re so lucky to be from such a beautiful country and, hopefully, we’ll be able to travel outside without limitations this summer to continue to discover it. Never mind a holiday abroad, a week along the Wild Atlantic Way would be incredible.”

Giving back

SunDrift donates a portion of its profits to various organisations, as a means of ‘putting something back’ and integrated as part of the business into the future.

“We’re in business to do good,” Fiona says. “Whether that’s providing our customers with quality products or great customer service, or making a charitable donation to help others — nothing is off the table.” 

In addition, all of SunDrift’s products are made using certified, recycled plastic or materials used from renewable sources, such as bamboo.

“We only work with ethical manufacturers, who adhere to a code of conduct, to ensure they pay their workers a fair wage and provide safe working conditions,” Fiona says. 

“Where we can, we choose sea shipping over air transportation to reduce our carbon emissions.”

The company also offsets any carbon emissions by planting trees with Irish-registered charity, Hometree.

Chief among Fiona’s ambitions is to make SunDrift a global brand and create employment. 

With her backpacking days on hold, while the business flourishes, Fiona is mindful of the role travel played in the creation of the enterprise.

“Travel was incredibly important to SunDrift when we launched,” Fiona says. 

The beauty of being a small start-up is that we can be very agile.

"This allowed us to react very quickly to Covid, which had, essentially, diminished our target market almost overnight.”

Hard work and listening to customers have ensured that SunDrift is coming through the other side of Covid-19 better than when the pandemic started.

“Yes, it will be great when travel reopens, as there will be a bigger demand for our larger packs, but we are also no longer relying on this industry,” Fiona says.

“And one thing I’ve definitely learned over the past year is resilience.”