This couple's own experience battling a skin condition led them to launch two D2C wellness brands

In 2014, when Shreedha Singh moved to Gurugram, she knew she would face difficulties in staying away from her parents for the first time in her life. What she did not expect was the city’s highly polluted air affecting her badly, which would lead to several years of battle with Urticaria, a skin condition also known as hives.

“I was seeking all sorts of professional care and would still get rashes every day on my face, neck, hands, and thighs. There would be a lot of redness and itchiness, despite being on anti-allergens for about a year,” she tells HerStory.

When Western medicine and allopathic treatment did not work, Shreedha and her husband Param Bhargava turned to Ayurvedic retreats and therapy centres across India for a long-term and permanent solution. 

“Finally, after undergoing certain treatments and therapies at an Ayurvedic centre in Kerala, my skin showed signs of relief. In three months, they saw drastic improvements and completely cured the problem in six months,” she adds.

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Starting up

Shreedha and her husband have had different upbringings when it comes to wellness. Where Param hails from a family of doctors and values medical intervention to most health issues, Shreedha’s mother is a keen follower of traditional Ayurvedic practices. 

So, when Ayurvedic treatment worked for Shreedha’s skin condition for good, Param decided such impactful products should be made easily available in the market. In 2019, the duo launched Khadi Essentials, a beauty and wellness brand. 

“At the same time, we understood modern medical science and Ayurveda are complementary to each other and today's generation is not going to wait for three to six months to see the results, they are used to instant gratification,” she says. 

The duo studied ancient wellness practise, connected with Ayurveda consultants, as well as research and development centres for viable ways to combine the two and develop products that show efficient results in a shorter time span.

In 2021, the couple also launched a purely Ayurvedic wellness brand called The Ayurveda Co (TAC). 

While both the brands offer beauty and personal care products like shampoo, masks, and body butter TAC has a more affordable and wider range of products concerning immunity, health, and nutrition. 

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Navigating the market

At present, both the online brands are available on their respective ecommerce portal as well as major platforms like Flipkart and Amazon. 

The duo believes sales should be determined by consumer needs and demands, “pull marketing rather than push marketing,” as Shreedha explains. The first set of products were tested by more than 750 participants across India with various skin, hair, and body types, and perfected based on their concerns and feedback. This practise continues even today.

However, the nationwide lockdown in 2020 became a major challenge for the young brands as they were building a team and streamlining the supply chain.

While the brands were still allowed to operate as they fell in the essentials category as a wellness company, ensuring the safety of the team became a concern. Shreedha says the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 poses a greater challenge as they have expanded the core team from about five people last year to 40 members. 

Bootstrapped so far, the duo says leaving behind cushy, corporate jobs was not easy, and they had to switch to a more minimal lifestyle in the beginning.

Every sacrifice and challenge seems to have paid off as they claim Khadi Essentials broke even in less than a year and closed the last financial year at more than Rs 15 crore in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV).

Going forward, the founders hope to make TAC the biggest Ayurvedic based beauty and wellness company globally in the next five to seven years, with products catering to health, nutrition, and sexual wellness. 

As Ayurveda-based products gain popularity marked by major brands like Forest Essentials and Himalaya Herbals, the market is growing at a CAGR of 16 percent in India and is expected to reach Rs 710.87 billion by 2024, according to ResearchAndMarket.