Conscious CPG Voices: Nopalera reimagines clean beauty from the ground up

How are “Conscious CPG” companies positioning themselves in today’s fast-changing consumer market—and how are they turning to the Newtopia Now as a vital new resource to advance their brand among key buyers and decision makers?

For this series, we asked the founders and leaders of 10 emerging brands who are exhibiting their innovations—many of them for the very first time at Newtopia Now—what factors drive their decisions today. Coming from diverse backgrounds, these entrepreneurs share at least one thing in common: The belief that gathering with peers, contemporaries, buyers, influencers, mentors, business leaders and others in an intimate setting is critical to learning about the marketplace, building relationships and growing your business and brand.

Sandra Lilia Velasquez, Founder and CEO, Nopalera

After 14 years in music—her Mexican folk music band, Pistolera, was once featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert—and working in sales for several years with CPG brands, Sandra Lilia Velasquez saw an opportunity to create a modern Mexican beauty brand. Inspired by her heritage and the desire to activate a new generation to explore beauty through a different lens, she set out to create a brand “that embodies boldness, scent transportation, and fresh takes on common beauty rituals,” she says. In 2019, she founded Nopalera. Today, the luxury skincare brand is sold in department stores including Nordstrom, Credo Beauty, Free People and elsewhere.

Related:10 Conscious CPG Voices: Emerging brands take a stand at Newtopia Now

Here's what Velasquez had to say about the brand in her own words.

Nopalera launched during the COVID pandemic and we've continued to adapt to the changing landscape. It's a tough time to build a business for sure, but we see these challenges as opportunities to fortify our mission and stay focused on our customers. 

We continue to communicate with our retail partners to see how we can support them. We are a small team of five people so, unfortunately, we can't physically be everywhere. When new retail opportunities present themselves, we discuss if it's a good fit and whether we can support them to build a mutually beneficial partnership. Timing is very important. It takes 18 months to bring a new product to market, so we have to have conversations today with our customers for products that will come out in 2026! 

We have always employed a 360 [degree], omni-channel marketing approach from the beginning. I built a community in advance of launching products and we've focused heavily on growing owned channels (i.e., our email list). We believe in meeting the customer where they are, whether that is digitally or in person. 

One of the challenges for emerging brands is the cost of retail support and sampling. We have invested in both of these and found them to be key drivers of our success in our existing retail accounts. We see an opportunity to expand into new accounts in regions where we already have brand representation to educate store staff and customers.

For the last three years, we have been focused on beauty retailers so we are excited to meet new potential retail partners in the natural space at Newtopia Now. Our products are formulated to the Credo clean standard and have sustainable packaging, which makes them great candidates for those looking for clean and sustainable products. 

Find Nopalera at Booth 2206 in the Glow neighborhood.

Newtopia Now, New Hope Network's new trade show, is set for Aug. 25-28 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. For more information and to register, click here.