In 1997 Big Pirana began as many great ideas do, with a simple product need that couldn’t be filled.

Sandra wanted a durable, kid friendly swim bag for her eldest son that was still funky and cool enough that he’d want to use it at school. After an exhaustive search around the local shops and department stores (she even checked the local school only to find the other kids were using plastic supermarket bags!) Sandra realised she would have to get one made herself… and Big Pirana was born.

Big Pirana quickly snowballed with over 2000 orders by the end of the first month! Obviously there was a need for kid friendly, funky bags. We added more products including toiletry bags, drink coolers and a yoghurt cooler which was designed by us after the frustration of our children arriving home from school with uneaten yoghurt because it was “too warm to eat at lunchtime". The feedback was so good we began to get schools involved, offering fundraising opportunities and an easy order system for families and friends through schools and organisations. This has proved to be immensely popular and successful for all involved – and the kids love getting their bags delivered direct to their classrooms!

Our range and styles are constantly being updated, with new stock each season. All bags are consistently durable to keep them kid friendly and come complete with personalised labels so they are easily identifiable.

One of the best things for us as business partners is that we’re also great friends. Which means we get to share all the ups and downs of real life with fun and laughter as a main ingredient! As well as business owners we’re also mums, family members and women and have learnt a lot over the years supporting each other in all these areas.

To find out what we have been up to and what is happening with Big Pirana visit our competitions page and join our e news now.

If you have any questions or suggestions for products you would like to see included in our range, or even stories you’d like to share, please drop us a line - we'd love to hear from you!

Catherine and Sandra