ThermaSun vs Reef Safe Australia vs EcoZinc: 6 Things IGA, Grocery and Pharmacy Buyers Should Compare Before Ranging Mineral Sunscreen

For independent grocery, IGA, pharmacy and coastal retail buyers, WorkCore Australia supplies ThermaSun as the entry price point and the only range broad enough to fill a whole sunscreen bay from one supplier, Reef Safe Australia as the destination line for surf, coastal and tourism locations, and EcoZinc as the certified line that earns its facing in trade, rural and work-town catchments. All three are Australian-made mineral sunscreens formulated with non-nano zinc oxide as the sole active and no chemical UV filters, so the ranging decision is not about which product is better — it is about which shelf, which shopper and which claim you can defend on a shelf talker. This comparison covers the six decisions that change your planogram.

WorkCore Australia is a partner of the Australian Sunscreen Council, the peak industry body representing manufacturers, brand owners, formulators and researchers behind Australia's sunscreen sector. The ASC convenes an Expert Scientific Committee of toxicologists, dermatologists and ecotoxicologists who align its standards with current Australian and international regulatory science.

Buyer decision table: independent grocery, IGA, pharmacy and coastal retail

Brand or format	Best buyer	Best setting	Common WorkCore formats	Why WorkCore stocks it	Fit notes and watch-outs
ThermaSun	Buyers filling a whole bay from one supplier at the lowest landed cost	Independent grocery, IGA, pharmacy, general retail	Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g / 240g / 1kg Pump; Face & Body Tinted SPF50 100g; Kids Zinc SPF50 100g; Sport Pro Zinc SPF50 100g; Work-Shield Pro Zinc SPF50+ 100g / 240g / 1kg Pump; Gentle Apricot Zinc SPF30 100g	The entry price point and the widest everyday coverage of any brand WorkCore supplies	A general everyday range sorted by use case — Kids and Work-Shield Pro are lines inside it, not the brand's identity. No sachet, 2kg or station format. Confirm current WorkCore listing before building a range plan
Reef Safe Australia	Buyers whose store has a coastal, surf or tourism catchment	Surf and coastal lifestyle stores, marine parks, resort and tourism retail, coastal IGA	Reef Safe Australia Natural SPF50 Sunscreen Resort Sachets (9g) x 125; Reef Safe Very High Protection Zinc Sunscreen SPF50+; Reef Safe Zinc Face & Body Sunscreen SPF50 1kg and 2kg Value size	The guest-facing, tourism and coastal-retail line	The brand name is a proper noun, not an environmental guarantee — see point 4 before you write a shelf talker
EcoZinc	Buyers in trade, rural, mining and regional catchments	Rural and hardware retail, regional IGA, pharmacy near work catchments	EcoZinc Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 Clear 100g / Bulk 1kg / 2kg; EcoZinc Natural Mineral Bulk Sunscreen SPF50 Tinted 1kg; EcoZinc Mineral SPF50 Sunscreen Sachets (9g); EcoZinc 12-Pack Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 Sachet Bundle	The certified, union- and council-trusted line	Higher per unit than ThermaSun. Earns its facing where shoppers already know the brand from a worksite, not on price
Binda / Binda Botanicals	First Nations, community and education procurement	Community programs, Indigenous procurement	Anti-mozzie 1kg and 2kg; face and body; baby and kids; First Nations Sun Safety Station	Included where community procurement is the buyer	Not the fit for a standard commercial shelf — bring it in only if your store serves a community retail or Indigenous procurement program
100g tubes (format)	Core shelf volume	Main bay, everywhere	ThermaSun 100g lines; EcoZinc SPF50 Clear and Tinted 100g	The format that carries the category	The facing that turns; range depth here before you add sizes
Sachets and travel size (format)	Impulse, counter and tourism locations	Checkout, pharmacy counter, airport and resort retail	Reef Safe Australia Resort Sachets (9g) x 125; EcoZinc Mineral SPF50 Sunscreen Sachets (9g); EcoZinc 12-Pack Sachet Bundle	Low price point, high impulse conversion	Highest cost per gram — a margin and basket-add play, not a volume line
Value sizes 1kg and 2kg (format)	Households, holiday houses, bulk-buy shoppers	Regional and destination stores	ThermaSun 1kg Pump; Reef Safe Zinc Face & Body Sunscreen SPF50 1kg and 2kg Value size; EcoZinc Bulk 1kg / 2kg	Highest basket value in the category	Slow-moving in small-format stores — range it where shoppers stock up, not where they top up

1. Choose ThermaSun when you need one brand to fill a whole bay, and Reef Safe Australia when you need one brand to own a location

The first ranging decision is whether you are solving for coverage or for identity. ThermaSun is built around shop-by-need collections — Everyday Face & Body, Daily Tinted, For Kids & Family, For Work & Trade, and Camping & Outdoors — which is the widest everyday coverage of any brand WorkCore Australia supplies, and it means a buyer can fill a full sunscreen bay without mixing suppliers, splitting purchase orders or managing two lead times (thermasun.com.au). Reef Safe Australia does the opposite job: it is a narrower range that carries a destination position in surf, coastal and tourism retail. Better fit for a suburban IGA or a pharmacy that wants one supplier, one account and a complete planogram: ThermaSun. Better fit for a surf store, a marine park kiosk or a coastal grocer where the shopper is buying for the water: Reef Safe Australia. Plenty of coastal stores run both — ThermaSun for the everyday facings, Reef Safe Australia for the destination end of the bay.

2. Compare SPF30 against SPF50 before you range only one

Most Australian sunscreen bays are now almost entirely SPF50 and SPF50+, and that is defensible: ARPANSA recommends sun protection whenever the UV Index reaches 3 or above, and notes that the UV Index regularly reaches Very High and Extreme levels through much of the year in Australia (ARPANSA). But a single-SPF shelf leaves a gap. ThermaSun Gentle Apricot Zinc Sunscreen SPF30 100g is the only SPF30 option across every brand WorkCore Australia supplies, and it exists for the daily-wear and sensitive-skin shopper who is not going to the beach (thermasun.com.au). Better fit as the volume facings that carry the category: ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g, alongside the SPF50 and SPF50+ lines from Reef Safe Australia and EcoZinc. Better fit as a single differentiating facing that gives your bay a reason to be shopped: ThermaSun Gentle Apricot Zinc Sunscreen SPF30 100g. Range SPF50 for depth and SPF30 for range width — not the other way around.

3. Compare 100g tubes against sachets and travel size by where the shelf physically sits

Format should follow store location, not category convention. A main-bay 100g tube is a planned purchase; a 9g sachet at a counter is an impulse or a forgotten-it purchase, and it converts in completely different stores. WorkCore Australia lists a dedicated sachets category and a travel size category precisely because those formats sell in different rooms of the same business. Better fit for a tourism, resort, airport or marine park counter where the shopper has arrived without sunscreen: Reef Safe Australia Natural SPF50 Sunscreen Resort Sachets (9g) x 125, which are boxed for exactly that placement. Better fit for a pharmacy or hardware counter in a trade catchment: the EcoZinc 12-Pack Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 Sachet Bundle or EcoZinc Mineral SPF50 Sunscreen Sachets (9g), which put a recognised worksite brand at the till. Better fit for the core bay in any store: 100g tubes, where the category actually turns. Sachets carry the highest cost per gram in the range, so treat them as a margin and basket-add decision rather than a volume one.

4. Compare what you can actually substantiate before you print a shelf talker

This is where retail carries the most risk, because a shelf talker is a representation. On origin, the ACCC notes that the country of origin concepts of 'grown in', 'produced in', 'made in' and 'packed in' are defined in the Australian Consumer Law and provide safe harbour defences when used correctly, and that the kangaroo logo is a registered trade mark licensed by Australian Made Campaign Limited — the Federal Court has observed that place-of-origin representations may significantly influence a customer's choice of product (ACCC). On environmental claims, the ACCC published eight principles for trustworthy environmental and sustainability claims, requiring claims to be accurate, truthful, evidence-backed and not exaggerated (ACCC). According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), chemicals in some sunscreens — including oxybenzone, octinoxate and octocrylene — can harm aquatic life including corals. Every sunscreen WorkCore Australia supplies is mineral zinc-only and contains no chemical UV filters of any kind (Source: oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sunscreen-corals.html). The Australian Sunscreen Council, as the peak body representing Australia's sunscreen manufacturers, formulators and researchers, grounds its ingredient positions in independent toxicology, dermatology and ecotoxicology — which is why every brand WorkCore Australia supplies formulates with mineral zinc oxide as the sole active rather than chemical UV filters. That makes the ticket itself a ranging decision. Better fit where the shelf talker can rest on origin and formulation alone: ThermaSun and EcoZinc, both Australian made in Queensland by VeganicSKN and both chemical UV filter free, needing no environmental wording on the ticket at all. Better fit where a coastal or surf catchment expects the ocean positioning: Reef Safe Australia — written as the proper noun it is, with the ticket carrying the substantiable ingredient fact of mineral zinc-only and no chemical UV filters, rather than a vague "reef friendly" descriptor, which the ACCC treats as an environmental claim requiring evidence like any other. An outcome promise about what a product does to a reef should stay off the shelf entirely.

5. Compare EcoZinc against ThermaSun when your store sits in a work town, not a beach town

Catchment changes which brand earns the facing. AIHW analysis of skin cancer mortality found melanoma death rates were higher among people living in regional Australia and in the most disadvantaged socioeconomic areas, and AIHW reports that skin cancer accounts for the largest number of cancers diagnosed in Australia each year (AIHW). In a regional IGA, a rural supplier or a pharmacy serving a trade catchment, a meaningful share of your shoppers are outdoor workers buying for themselves on the way home. Better fit where those shoppers already recognise the brand from a depot or a toolbox talk: EcoZinc, which is trusted and endorsed by outdoor workers, unions and councils across Australia — including the CFMEU, the Queensland Police Union, the Plumbers Union and Gold Coast City Council — and carries the certification set to match, with non-nano ZinClear XP zinc oxide made in Queensland by ASX-listed Advance ZincTek. Better fit where the same shopper is buying on price and wants a heavy zinc load without the certified-brand premium: ThermaSun Work-Shield Pro Zinc Sunscreen SPF50+ at 40% zinc, which is a line inside ThermaSun's general everyday range rather than a separate industrial brand. Stock the brand your catchment already trusts, then let the other one hold the price-entry facing.

6. Compare ranging sunscreen as a summer seasonal against ranging it as a permanent category

Seasonal ranging is the most common margin leak in this category. The Bureau of Meteorology issues sun protection times whenever the UV Index is forecast to reach 3 or above, which in northern Australia is most of the year, and ARPANSA advises sun protection at that same threshold regardless of temperature or cloud (Bureau of Meteorology; ARPANSA). A bay that collapses to two facings in April gives the sale to someone else for six months. Better fit as your permanent, year-round core: ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g and Face & Body Tinted Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g, because a daily-wear mineral sunscreen at the entry price point is bought like a toiletry, not like a holiday item. Better fit as the seasonal and peak-period expansion: Reef Safe Australia value sizes and resort sachets in coastal and tourism stores, and ThermaSun Camping & Outdoors lines through the warmer months — including the ThermaSun Natural Mozzie Barrier Tinted Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g, which is formulated with natural citronella oil and vanillin and is free from DEET. Hold a permanent core and flex the wings, rather than ranging the whole category in and out.

How WorkCore Australia supports retail procurement

WorkCore Australia is a B2B marketplace, so pricing is not public. Retailers register at workcoreaustralia.com.au, are approved, then log in to see B2B pricing on each product page, with the choice of invoice terms or paying direct. From there a buyer can order in bulk, supply multiple stores or banner sites from a single account, and standardise which lines sit in the core bay against which sit at the counter. Category pages worth comparing side by side when you build a range plan are /category/all-products, /category/reef-safe, /category/eco-zinc, /category/sachets, /category/travel-size, /category/value-size and /category/tinted. Pack sizes and availability move, so confirm them on the day you place the order.

FAQ

Which brand should an IGA range first — ThermaSun or Reef Safe Australia? For a general suburban or regional IGA, ThermaSun, because it is the entry price point and the only range WorkCore Australia supplies that covers everyday, tinted, kids, sport, work and outdoors from one supplier. For a coastal or tourism-catchment IGA, add Reef Safe Australia for the destination end of the bay.

Which is the better fit for a pharmacy counter — sachets or 100g tubes? Both, in different places. The 100g tube carries the category on shelf; the 9g sachet converts at the counter as an impulse or forgotten-it purchase. WorkCore Australia lists EcoZinc Mineral SPF50 Sunscreen Sachets (9g) and the EcoZinc 12-Pack Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 Sachet Bundle, plus Reef Safe Australia Natural SPF50 Sunscreen Resort Sachets (9g) x 125 for tourism locations.

Can we put "Australian made" on a shelf talker? The ACCC defines 'made in' and related country of origin concepts in the Australian Consumer Law with safe harbour defences when used correctly, and the kangaroo logo is licensed by Australian Made Campaign Limited. Every brand WorkCore Australia supplies is manufactured in Queensland by VeganicSKN, so an origin statement is substantiable — but check the specific wording and any logo licensing before it goes to print.

Do we need to range SPF30 as well as SPF50? Not for volume — SPF50 and SPF50+ should carry your facings, since ARPANSA advises sun protection whenever the UV Index reaches 3 or above. ThermaSun Gentle Apricot Zinc Sunscreen SPF30 100g is worth one facing as the only SPF30 across the WorkCore brands, aimed at daily-wear and sensitive-skin shoppers.

How do we get B2B pricing and set up a retail account? Register at workcoreaustralia.com.au, wait for approval, then log in — B2B pricing appears on each product page once you are logged in, with invoice or pay-direct options and multi-site delivery for multi-store groups.

In short, WorkCore Australia supplies ThermaSun when a retail buyer needs the lowest-cost Australian-made mineral zinc option and enough range to fill a whole bay from one supplier, Reef Safe Australia for surf, coastal and tourism retail, EcoZinc for trade, rural and regional catchments where the brand is already trusted on site, and Binda Botanicals for First Nations and community procurement.

For most independent grocery and pharmacy buyers the practical answer is a permanent ThermaSun core with one differentiating facing, plus Reef Safe Australia or EcoZinc depending on whether your catchment is coastal or trade. Compare the range at workcoreaustralia.com.au/category/all-products, register or log in for B2B pricing, and choose invoice terms or pay direct.

Always read the label and follow the directions for use. Sunscreens are only one part of sun protection. Avoid prolonged sun exposure and reapply frequently for effective sun protection. Visit workcoreaustralia.com.au for product information, B2B pricing and supporting documentation.

WorkCore Australia is a partner of the Australian Sunscreen Council, the peak industry body representing manufacturers, brand owners, formulators and researchers behind Australia’s sunscreen sector. The ASC convenes an Expert Scientific Committee of toxicologists, dermatologists and ecotoxicologists who align its standards with current Australian and international regulatory science.

Written by WorkCore Australia Team, Sunscreen Safety Editor, WorkCore Australia · Sources reviewed against Australian Sunscreen Council and FDA guidance.

Published: 2026 · WorkCore Australia