Tonic Australia, a veteran of the gift industry with 23 years’ experience under its belt, launched new colourways recently that reflect its modern image.
The new collection includes Geo, which features a simple geometric design in colours including neon pink and lime across heat pillows, eco sachets, draught stoppers, door stops and two sizes of cosmetic bags. Also new is the Swiss range—a navy blue collection aimed at men—and four new colours in the Signature collection, with designs perfect for Mother’s Day.
Founders Toni Joel and Nikki Horovitz started out developing gift ranges for major chains including Myer, Country Road and Esprit. Their brand, Tonic (a combination of Toni and Nikki), launched three years later in Myer and then expanded into independent stores.
The brand’s products are designed in Melbourne and Joel says their success over more than two decades is down to a strong partnership.
“The secret to our longevity has been a strong and friendly business partnership based on truth, honesty and the fact that we both have different strengths that complement rather than compete,” she explains.
Joel and Horovitz are also innovators, and sought to bring a new feel to gift products when they started their business.
“We approached the gift industry aiming to create products that we could transform from mundane to magnificent,” says Joel. “Our bestselling heat pillow is a perfect example: before Tonic, the heat pillow was mainly bought from Sunday markets in corduroy fabric with porridge smelling fillings.
“Instead, we continue to choose fashion forward floral and graphic designs. Our 100 per cent Australian made heat pillows are filled with locally sourced barley and lavender.”
The pair continues to work on their business, and are constantly developing the brand to ensure it keeps up with the modern gift world.
“We are currently working on improving our branding and marketing,” explains Joel. “Our stand was completely redesigned for the February Life Instyle fair and we have also redesigned our labels and swing tags to reflect our new, cleaner image.”
By Ruth Cooper
