When it comes to feeding their children, mothers know best. Yvon Bock, the founder and CEO of Hegen is no exception.
As a mother of four, Bock has had a total of 10 years breastfeeding her children. It was her own experience as a mother, combined with her entrepreneurial spirit, that led to the creation of Hegen.
Created in 2015, Hegen is a brand that is dedicated to supporting mothers and helping them navigate motherhood, from pregnancy to birth and beyond.
This venture is Bock’s way of giving back to the community of mothers, helping them with the often complex and challenging world of not just breastfeeding, but also being a mother.
“My own life journey as a mother inspired me to start Hegen. The word ‘hegen’ is a German word that means ‘cherish’… and to give back more in your own way,” says Bock in an interview with The Edge Singapore.
Breastfeeding, while a natural process, is not always straightforward. Many women face physical, emotional, and logistical challenges. Bock’s own journey was filled with diverse experiences. She had to express breast milk every four hours due to her frequent travels, leading to an extensive system of over 1,500 stored breast milk containers at one point. This required a well-organised approach, which she likened to a warehousing traceability system, ensuring a first-in, first-out approach to using the stored milk.
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She faced societal challenges too, such as negative feedback from older generations and discomfort in breastfeeding publicly. Her biggest challenge came with her first child when her milk supply was initially low, followed by painful engorgement, a common issue for many breastfeeding mothers.
Bock’s approach to breastfeeding was holistic, as she understood its emotional aspect and stressed that the quantity of breast milk produced does not measure a mother’s love or commitment.
“I did have a flair for breastfeeding, thankfully. But I noticed that this was not the case for every mother out there,” says Bock, adding that working mothers who were breastfeeding typically have low self-esteem because it was not easy carrying bulky breast pumping equipment around.
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She also learned the invaluable lesson of the bonding experience that breastfeeding offers.
Support played a crucial role in her journey. Her husband was a strong advocate for breastfeeding and provided immense support, from conducting research to attending courses and consulting lactation experts. This highlights the importance of a supportive environment for breastfeeding mothers.
Her venture into the world of baby products, particularly breastfeeding aids, is not just a business endeavour but a deeply personal one, rooted in her experiences.
A mother’s mission
Hegen’s mission is to make the breastfeeding journey enjoyable and sustainable for parents. The company’s focus is on developing innovative, practical products that directly address the challenges faced by breastfeeding mothers. Its product range is created for an enhanced user experience, combining technological advancements with thoughtful design.
Yet Bock’s path to establishing a brand that she can be proud of and serve mothers came with challenges.
While she had already gained her initial experience in the industry from working with her father at his company that manufactures baby products, Fitson Singapore, Hegen was set up as a separate entity with very limited resources.
Financial hurdles were significant. Being self-funded, Bock and her team invested substantial resources before seeing tangible results, demonstrating their commitment and belief in the company and its cause. “Back then, we had to milk every dollar and effort. We had to carefully spend every cent, going into designing our product, marketing and hiring talent,” says Bock.
The development of Hegen’s first product was a five-year journey marked by over 200 iterations, failed prototypes, and a major setback when Bock discovered that her initial design had been leaked. However, these challenges led to a breakthrough in innovation, resulting in Hegen’s unique square-round — or what Bock likes to call it “sqround” — container that integrated multiple functions into a single product.
“Our bottles are also designed with no screw thread, making it easier for parents to secure the caps to the bottle. Also, we try to achieve the highest possible quality in our products and that’s why we use polyphenylsulfone or PPSU, a type of medical-grade material, to create our bottles,” she says.
“It took us a long time to come up with what we have now, which is a leak-proof experience and easy to operate feeling. For the baby, the bottle is ergonomic in the way that they just have to lift the bottle without needing to grab hold of it,” she elaborates, adding that babies from as young as just a few weeks old can easily use Hegen’s bottles.
Another unique feature of Hegen’s bottles is its interchangeable caps, which provide multiple functions depending on the cap used. For instance, a breast pump (manual or electric) can be attached to the container, catching breast milk immediately. The cap can then be changed to a flat cover to store the milk. And when it’s feeding time, simply change the storage cap to a teat cap. This way, Hegen’s products help to reduce the wastage of precious breast milk lost when transferring from one container to another.
Bock recalls that the initial market response to the product was lukewarm, with the product being so different from what was in the market, along with its premium price point. This required persistent efforts in brand promotion and customer education, which eventually paid off.
Hegen started to gain its popularity in the market and even saw a 20% year-to-date growth in revenue this year. Its efforts have also been recognised by Satista as one of the top 10 fastest growing companies in Singapore. But with fame comes its own issues.
Intellectual property (IP) protection emerged as another major challenge as the brand took off and dealing with copycats became a critical issue. Bock emphasises that IP protection is not simply for commercial gains but to ensure the safety and integrity of a brand that she has painstakingly built from the ground up.
Bright future ahead
Under Bock’s leadership, Hegen has garnered significant accolades, reflecting its impact and innovation in the industry. Bock herself was awarded the Asia’s Women Empowerment Award at the 2021 Fortune Times Awards Ceremony. Additionally, Hegen’s products have won numerous awards, including the Good Design Award in 2018 and 2019, the Singapore Good Design Mark, and the Japan Good Design Mark, among others.
This year Bock takes home the EY Entrepreneur of The Year award for Consumer Products. She stands a chance to win the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 Singapore and represent Singapore at the annual EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year award in 2024 to compete with contenders from over 60 jurisdictions.
Bock envisions Hegen reaching beyond the realm of mothers to a wider audience. Her commitment to making a difference in the lives of parents and children globally has led Hegen to expand into 24 international markets, including US, China, and UK. In the short- to mid-term, Bock hopes for Hegen to expand into 35 markets, but this would be dependent on finding the right partners who not just have the experience within the particular market, but also share similar values and vision with the brand.
As for Hegen’s products, Bock hopes that consumers of all ages, and not just mothers, will find them useful. “We are expanding our offerings to not just cater to mothers and babies, but to both the younger and older audience. We want to ensure that our products are sustainable, in a sense that they have a long life cycle — it’s not just for babies to drink milk from,” says Bock.
“The caps we have designed evolve to meet the entire needs of a family. There is a place for Hegen for every life stage,” says Bock, adding that there are also caps for the container to be a regular water bottle or even a straw bottle. The PPSU material that is used for Hegen’s bottles can withstand very high heat and is oven-safe.
Hegen’s support to mothers does not end at just its innovative product. At present, the brand is expanding its services to offer lactation support. It currently has a lactation centre that provides tailored solutions to help mothers in need of breastfeeding support.
“The Hegen lactation centre was founded during the pandemic because we realised that quite a number of mothers, especially new ones, face breastfeeding difficulties post-partum,” says Bock, elaborating that Hegen is also working with several confinement centres in Singapore to help mothers there. Bock herself is a certified lactation consultant.
Bock’s entrepreneurial journey with Hegen is a compelling narrative of resilience, innovation, and dedication to a cause that transcends business. Her story serves as an inspiration, showcasing how personal experiences can fuel transformative business ideas that resonate with and support communities worldwide.
“Hegen and I are here to support mothers and help them navigate their challenging role as a mother. Regardless of race and religion, I hope for the industry to give support to mothers around the world,” says Bock.
