Nuoceans, a Belgian-British sustainable footwear brand that transforms ocean waste into colourful and vegan sandals, has chosen Bleckmann, a specialist in supply chain management for fashion and lifestyle brands, as its new Bscale partner. The automated, plug-and-play fulfilment platform enables Nuoceans to manage its entire supply chain – from warehousing and order processing to returns – without complex or costly set-ups. As of the end of May, Bleckmann has fully taken over Nuoceans’ operations.
Greater focus on operational activities thanks to Bscale
Nuocean was founded in 2018 in the United Kingdom and after a crowdfunding in 2022, it was founded in Belgium in 2024. Nuoceans faced a challenge familiar to many fast-growing start-ups in the fashion and lifestyle sector: processing orders in-house had ceased to be merely an operational task and had become a time-consuming burden. At the same time, demand was rising across Europe, meaning the team could not afford to let logistics act as a brake on growth. There was a need for a third-party logistics (3PL) solution with specialised omnichannel capabilities and sufficient flexibility to organise fulfilment more efficiently. This allowed the team to focus on the next phase of growth, without losing sight of the customer.
Since February, they have been working with Bleckmann and have opted for Bscale: an ideal end-to-end logistics solution for scaling up businesses. The plug-and-play Bscale solution offers a ‘pay-as-you-grow’ model, giving Nuoceans the speed, scale and flexibility to expand its reach cost-effectively across Europe and beyond. All of Nuoceans’ orders are processed from the distribution centre in Grobbendonk, reducing processing times and enabling flexible stock management.
The system proved not only to be user-friendly but also a better choice for Nuoceans in terms of price. Thanks to Bscale, Nuoceans can focus more effectively on other operational activities, whilst still conducting around 70 per cent of its business in Germany and France. In the future, the ambition is to expand the partnership with Bleckmann to cover multiple regions in which the brand operates.
Turning pollution into a finished product
Three hard-working students met at university, each with different backgrounds, personalities and ways of thinking. But they shared one common goal: preserving nature. Together, they launched a fashion brand to achieve this and do something that would make a real difference. The idea for the brand was born in 2018, following a visit to Thailand. Around three billion pairs of flip-flops are produced every year: these are non-recyclable and often end up in landfill sites and, in Asia, on beaches. There, the founders were shocked by the amount of waste at the beaches and start working with a local university professor to press the flip-flops together into a single flexible mass. That moment was the starting point: it inspired them to think further and develop the concept step by step into what it is today.
Every year, the three founders of Nuocean work together with Trash Hero to collect thousands of flip-flops from the beaches of Southeast Asia. They are sorted by colour and thoroughly cleaned. This preparatory work is the first step in transforming discarded flip-flops into colourful materials for Nuocean’s unique creations. The multicolour sole is made from 100% ocean waste, primarily discarded flip-flops. The insole is made from recycled cork and natural latex, the outsole from the leftovers from the shoes industry and the straps are vegan leather. There is around 300 grams of ocean waste in each pair. To further expand its sustainability standards, Nuocean’s packaging is also sustainable and fully recyclable.
