People are shifting towards natural Ayurveda products, and it is pretty much evident that after the corona pandemic, people have started realising that natural products are best for us.
How did you come up with Ayouthveda? How was the journey?
The journey started in 2015. We were developing these personal care products. I have been a very fond user of personal care ayurvedic products for a very long time, but I saw there was a gap in the market for brands that were clinically natural but weren’t so natural. The second thing I saw was that the brands that were natural were out of pocket for a lot of the Indian population. See where I saw the gap. I am a python chemist. I have done my Masters and PhD in Pharmacy in Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. So I decided to develop a range, which is very close to natural herbs. People are claiming to be putting a lot of herbal ingredients in the personal care range, but the results they claim are not actually, what I felt. So the main goal was to develop a personal care range that is very close to natural because there’s nothing 100% natural. At the same time, it should also deliver the result as promised. Products should have the right amount of concentration of ingredients. We are mentioning all the ingredients on the packaging. People are taking advantage of the market by simply including hints of herbs in their products.
Firstly, we started making the products and then the brand name was thought out. What should be the brand name, It was my brainchild that the youth of the country should be connected to Ayurveda, so we kept Ayouthveda. The thought was to keep youths connected with Ayurveda. Generally, a very traditional outlook is given. A tree or a sage is sitting under the tree in these kinds of outlooks, a traditional touch given to Ayurveda.
I think the youth of the country need it to be fresh and natural. At the same time, ayurvedic richness should be there in the products, so the gap was there and we started Ayouthveda to fill it.
We developed a huge range of products: facial care, body care, bath and body, and hygiene. Pushing into 2019, we have created the entire range. We launched in 2020. We were supposed to launch later in 2020, but there was a lockdown, but still, we launched in 2020 in March itself. We started an online portal with a few products and we received a very positive response. We got an overwhelming response after the wave settled. Last year in August/September, we started our offline operations and our target was to reach 10 Cr. in the first year and we overachieved. We did 12 cr.
AIMIL is a very well established group that is the parent company of Ayouthveda. The purpose of this startup is to provide innovative products to the youth of the country that are free from harsh chemicals, free from sulphates, parabens, silicon, and a lot of other harmful chemicals that are not disclosed by a lot of brands. We are set to launch retail outlets in malls in Delhi. One is in Pacific Mall and the second one is in Vegas Mall Dwarka, so we have a 22% repeat rate of customers. People are loving the products.
What makes you different?
There are a lot of differences, ‘We are the real natural’ is our tagline. We are disclosing all the ingredients which are being infused into the product, even the slightest of the sapiens we are mentioning on the label. We are different in other categories as well. We have a very diverse portfolio/range of products. We are also focused on the hygiene part because, after the COVID wave, we have a diverse product line which is specially designed for that duration. We are also working on the air sensitization part. First is the versatile product range. Second is the transparent composition. We are a premium brand but at a pocket-friendly cost. Additionally, we have a 36-year old Ayurveda legacy.
Ayouthveda have clocked 12 cr within a year? What is your goal for the coming year?
Initially, the goal was to reach 35 Cr, but in April and March there was a lockdown, so that hampered the initial quarter of the financial year, so now we are looking at 30 cr.
How did the years 2020-2021, become the golden era for ayurvedic brands? When everyone was looking for natural and organic products. What was it like for Ayouthveda?
There’s a shift. People are shifting towards natural Ayurveda products, and it is pretty much evident that after the corona pandemic, people have started realising that natural products are best for us. Ayurveda has a lot to offer, and I think the ayurvedic personal care industry is bound to grow at a rate of 25% CAGR in the coming two financial years. People are more and more inclined towards Ayurveda. We very much hope that in the time to come, we will gain our space and we will also be beneficiated. After the storm of natural ayurvedic products, people are going to see those differences, which products are natural. They will read the composition and labels. If you look at our labels, we are very transparent to the customer.
What are your plans for the funding? Are you planning to raise funds shortly?
Yes, we are already looking for some VC. We are picking ourselves. We have already picked up in ‘Sony Liv Shark Tank’, which is going to be launched in India. “Shark Tank” is one of the platforms from which we are looking to get funding. Some other VCs are also in the process. We are looking for funding. This 30 Cr plan will go up to 100 Cr. also, but for that, we will require advertisements and media endorsements by some celebrities, and a few other things that are required in the brand awareness process. Currently, it is bootstrapped and somewhere we are self-sufficient, we are getting very good responses from customers. But for the brand endorsement, we need funds and we are eagerly looking for that.
What products will be the best-selling products in the year 2020?
One of our sanitisers, which is a DRDO approved formulation, did very well during the pandemic. Apart from this, the form of beauty care segment, charcoal face pack, which did very well, charcoal sheet mask, and anti-hair fall kit (tonic). These were the highest selling products.
Do we have space for more startups with the same ayurvedic offerings?
A lot of mushrooming is going on. A lot of people are coming up with a lot of personal care and ayurvedic products also. Young budding entrepreneurs can also leverage this ayurvedic herbal market because there are huge opportunities. We are thinking of the herbal care range or the herbal wellness range, but there are a lot of other categories where we can work on. If people have innovative ideas in different segments, they can surely leverage this growth and they can do well out of it.
How difficult is it for a newly built startup to build brand value or customer trust in the market?
Yes, it is very tough because people who are advertising have had a very good brand hold and strong brand presence for many years, so they have been preferred by customers, but there’s a lack of awareness. We are making efforts to make people aware that they should read labels so they can differentiate between real natural and herbal products.
For a new brand like us, sampling is very important. We are collaborating with a lot of platforms, giving very heavy samples to them, so people can try the products. Once they use them, we can bring about a change. So there are two types of people. Those who have used our products and definitely like our products will shift to our brand, and those who have brand awareness that those MNC’s and other companies are there in the market, trust is there with them. We are religiously working on brand awareness. We want people to recognise our brand, Ayouthveda as one of the bigger players in the market. Small steps are made towards those goals. We are collaborating with platforms so that they can use our products and feel the change between other players and us.
If we see a turmeric and neem picture on the packaging, we think it is herbal. Don’t get fooled by it. Start looking at labels and the concentration brands are putting in the products. Most of the companies do not consider mentioning all the ingredients that they use, they are just leveraging the market.
Apart from selling herbal products, are you also involved in making people understand the properties of natural ingredients?
We are already doing it through our social media handles. We are educating people about which ingredient is best for which season. Yes, we are guiding people. Yes, physical reach is important for this education and that will take a lot of effort, investment and time. We will launch an online course and get to know the herbal ingredients better.
What is the future of ayurvedic makers in India?
It’s huge. The companies that are going to deliver good products with transparency to the consumer will leverage that. People are educated enough to differentiate and they know how to make better choices and this will lead this market to grow.
What are your further expansion plans in India and overseas?
Yes, we are already in terms of expansion. In Gujrat, we will open stores. This year we are planning to open 10 retail stores. By next year, we will multiply that by 100. So the plan is to open 10 stores by March. For overseas, we have already started the procedure of registering our products in the UK and the Middle East, and we are getting a very good response. Within six months, we will expand our footprints across the whole of Europe.
What new products are in the process of being launched?
We are coming up with the “classical range”. There is ‘kumkumadi tailam’ which again there is a lot of oil in the market with the same name, but nobody is making it from the reference textbook according to the government of India. We are making it from the recommended formula of the government of India. So people can feel the difference between the real kumkumadi tailam and others that are already present in the market. The formula is approved by the government and is the ancient way of making oil. Pind Body massage oil, which is for relaxing and stress-free body massage oil, the D-Tan range and two face serums. Vitamin C. In the winter season, we will be coming out with a cold cream that is free from sulphates and parabens.
The journey started in 2015, we were developing these personal care products, I have been a very fond user of personal care ayurvedic products for a very long time, but I saw there was a gap in the market who were clinically natural but wasn’t so natural, the second thing the brands who were actually natural were out of the pocket for a lot of Indian population, see where I saw the gap. I myself being a python chemist, I have done my master in Masters & PhD in Pharmacy in Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. So I decided to develop a range, which is very close to natural herbs, people are claiming to be putting a lot of herbal ingredients in the personal care range but the result they claim are not present actually, what I felt. So the main was to develop a personal care range which is very close to natural, because there’s nothing 100% natural, at the same time it should also deliver the result as it promises. Products should have the right amount of concentration of ingredients. We are mentioning all the ingredients on the packaging. People are leveraging in the market just putting hints of herbs in the products.
Firstly we started making the products and then the brand name was thought out, what should be the brand name, It was my brainchild the youth of the country should be connected with Ayurveda, so we kept Ayouthveda. The thought was to keep youths connected with Ayurveda. Generally, a very traditional outlook is given, a tree or a sage is sitting under the tree these kinds of outlooks, traditional touch people given to Ayurveda
I think the youth of the country needs that it should be fresh, it should be natural at the same time ayurvedic richness should be there in the products, so the gap was there and we started Ayouthveda to fill it.
We developed a huge range of products: facial care, body care, bath and body and hygiene pushing to 2019 we have created all the range. We Launched in 2020, we were supposed to launch later in 2020 but there was lockdown, but still, we launched in 2020 in March itself. We started an online portal with few products and we receive a very great response, offline as well we get an overwhelming response after the wave settled. Last year in August/September we started our offline operations and our target was to reach 10 Cr. in the first year and we overachieved that we did 12 cr..
AIMIL is a very well established group that is the parent company of Ayouthveda. The purpose of this startup is to provide innovative products to the youth of the country, which is free from harsh chemicals, free from sulphate, parabens, silicon and a lot of harmful chemicals, which are not disclosed by a lot of brands. We are set to launch retail outlets in malls of Delhi, one is in Pacific mall and the second one is in Vegas Mall Dwarka so we have 22% of repeat rate of customers people are loving the products.
What makes you different?
There are a lot of differences, ‘We are the real natural’ is our tagline. We are disclosing all the ingredients which are being infused into the product, even the slightest of the sapiens we are mentioning on the label. We are different in other categories as well, we have a very diverse portfolio/ range of products, we are also focused on hygiene part because after the covid wave, we have a diverse productering which is specially designed for that duration, we are working on the air sensitization part. First is versatile product range, second is transparent composition, we are a premium brand but pocket-friendly cost. Additionally, we have 36 years old Ayurveda legacy.
You have clocked 12 cr within a year? What is your goal for the coming year?
Initially, the goal was to reach 35 Cr, but in April and March there was a lockdown, so that hampered the initial quarter of the financial year, so now we are looking at 30 cr.
How did the years 2020-2021, become the golden era for ayurvedic brands? When everyone was looking for natural and organic products. Being an ayurvedic brand how was it for Ayouthveda?
There’s a shift, people are shifting towards natural Ayurveda products and it is pretty much evident that after the corona pandemic people have started realizing that natural products are best for us and Ayurveda has a lot to offer and I think the ayurvedic personal care industry is bound to grow by the rate of 25% CAGR in coming two financial years. People are more and more very much inclined towards Ayurveda, we are very much hope that in the time to come we will gain our space and we will also be beneficiates. After the storm of natural ayurvedic products, people are going to see those differences, which products are really natural. They will read the composition and labels. If you look at our labels we are very transparent to the customer.
What are your plans on funding? Are you planning to raise funds in the near future?
Yes, we are already looking for some VC, we are picking ourselves, already we have picked in ‘Sony Liv Shark Tank’, which is going to be launched in India. Shark Tank is one of the platforms from which we are looking to get funding. Some other VC is also in process, we are definitely looking for funding. This 30 Cr plan will go up to 100 Cr. also but for that, we will require advertisements and media endorsements by some celebrities and few other things that are required in the brand awareness process. Currently, it is bootstrapped and somewhere we are self-sufficient we are getting very good responses from customers. But for the brand endorsement, we definitely need funds and we are eagerly looking for that.
What products were the best seller products in the year 2020?
One of our Sanitiser, which is DRDO approved formulation, did very well during the pandemic, apart from this form beauty care segment charcoal face pack which did very well, charcoal sheet mask and anti-hair fall kit (tonic). these were the highest selling products.
Do we have space for more startups with the same ayurvedic offerings?
A lot of mushrooming is going on a lot of people are coming up with a lot of personal care and ayurvedic products also, and young budding entrepreneurs can also leverage from this ayurvedic herbal market because there are huge opportunities, we are thinking into the herbal care range or herbal wellness range but there are a lot of other categories where we can work on. If people have innovative ideas in different segments they can surely leverage this growth and they can do really well out of it.
How difficult is it for a newly build startup to build brand value or customer trust in the market?
Yes, It is very tough because people who are advertising and they have a very good brand holding and strong brand presence from many years, so they have been preferred by customers but there’s a lack of awareness, we are making efforts to make the people aware that they should read labels so they can differentiate between real natural/herbal products.
For a new brand like us, sampling is very important, we are collaborating with a lot of platforms giving very heavy samples to them, so people can try the products, once they use them we can definitely bring about a change. So there are two types of people, on who used our products defiantly will like our products will shift to our brand and other is brand awareness that those MNC’s and other companies are there in the market trust is there with them. We are religiously working on brand awareness, we want people to recognize our brand Ayouthveda as one of the bigger players in the market. Small steps are making towards those goals. We are collaborating with platforms so that they can use our products and feel the change between other players and us.
Lack of knowledge is there if we saw turmeric and neem picture on the packaging we think its herbal, don get fool by it. Start looking at labels and the concentration brands are putting in the products. Most of the companies do not consider mentioning all the ingredients that they use, they are just leveraging the market.
Apart from selling herbal products are you also in making people understand the properties of natural ingredients?
We are already doing it through our social media handles. We are educating people about which ingredient is best for which season, yes we are guiding people. Yes, physical reach is important for this education and that will take a lot of effort, investment and time. We will launch an online course and get to gathers to know the herbal ingredient better.
What is the future of ayurvedic makers in India?
It’s huge. The companies who are going to deliver good products with transparency to the consumer will leverage. People are educated enough to differentiate and they know how to make better choices and this will lead this market to grow.
What are your further expansion plans in India and Overseas?
Yes, we are already in terms of expansion, in Gujrat, we will open stores. This year we are planning to open 10 retail stores, by next year we will multiply it by 100. So the plan is to open 10 stores till march. For overseas we already have started the procedure of registering our products in the UK and the Middle East and we are getting a very good response. Within six months we will expand our footprints in the whole of Europe.
What new products are in the process to get launched?
We are coming up with ‘classical range’ their is ‘kumkumadi tailam’ which again there are a lot of oils are there in the market with the same name but nobody is making from the reference textbook according to the govt of India, we are making from the recommended formula of the govt of India. So the people can feel the difference between the real kumkumadi tailam and others that are already present in the market. The formula is approved by the government is the ancient way of making oil. Pind Body massage oil which is for relaxing and stress-free body massage oil, D-Tan range and two face serums. Vitamin C. In the winter season, we are coming with cold cream which is free from sulphates and parabens.
Source: Business World
