2Bs Story
2B is a family business run by Paul Blackham and Sarah Jones out of Motueka in New Zealand’s fabulous South Island.
Paul has spent all his working life in and around financial markets so developing an insect repellent was not an obvious career move, however, family life does all sorts of strange things to a man! Having a child with food intolerances and other allergies meant that we became avid label readers and really tried to avoid strong chemicals in our food, toiletries, cleaners and general environment. We were already pretty clean living folk but our awareness hit a whole new level! For example, we now pretty much only clean the house with baking powder and white vinegar, and we ‘wash’ our laundry with magnets! All this is based on good science of course – we are both nerds at heart and we do our research well before we act!
In this strive for simplicity, something that really bugged us was Insect Repellents which seemed to fall largely into two categories, DEET based ones that worked and ‘natural’ ones that offered only mild and often short-lived protection. Well, necessity being the mother of invention, Paul set out to see if he could make one himself. Paul is, let us say, a rather-single-minded researcher and after many (many, many) hours and much experimentation he hit upon a combination that has proved itself in some of New Zealand’s most bug-ridden environments. Our family all love to get out and about in New’s Zealand’s fabulous bush and rivers so there’s been plenty of opportunity to test 3B’s efficacy.
After several years of making many bottles for ourselves and friends, the point had come where it was clear demand was only increasing each season and so we decided to make it official and get into full production. ‘Blackham’s Bug Blues’ became 3B and in December 2013 went on sale. In negotiating intellectual property laws 3B became 2B in 2015 and is now sold all over New Zealand.
“We are so pleased to be able to share this great product with you and your ankles – we know that it really works and we trust that it will make your adventures far more fun without all that itching, scratching and cursing!”
Michelle Curran - Christchurch, New Zealand