How this entrepreneur’s organic brand of products saw exponential growth in four years with exports worth Rs 250 Cr
Founded in 2017, Naturevibe Botanicals began its business operations from the US and Europe and then entered the Indian market in 2019. During the pandemic, the company took to the D2C route to cater to increased demand for health foods.
When Rishabh Chokhani (32) decided to adopt clean eating, he couldn’t believe the impact on his body. The transformation did not take long to show, and the results were astonishing - both physically and mentally.
This inspired him to research botanicals, which led him to start his own brand of health foods called Naturevibe Botanicals in 2017.
Rishabh’s family business, based in Mumbai, was into pharmaceuticals. This made it easier for Rishabh to study the wellness and related industries. He sensed a huge opportunity in the organic foods industry, and decided to set up his business along the same lines.
In an interaction with SMBStory, he says,
“In India, at the time, the organic products market was still growing, but in the US, it was already a huge craze. Though most of the natural ingredients used in any product has its roots in India, there were very few Indian suppliers in the foreign market. This is the space I intended to tap into.”
When he launched, Rishabh started by catering to the US market, and soon expanded to Europe. After operating in these foreign markets, and getting a know-how of the industry, Rishabh ventured into the Indian market in 2019.
Today, Rishabh claims, the company is exporting Indian botanicals worth Rs 250 crores, and clocked a turnover of Rs 140 crore in FY 20-21 ,with a global customer retention rate of 40 percent.
Growing organically
The global organic food and beverages market size is projected to reach $ 3,50,050 million by 2026, from $ 1,67,070 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 13.1 percent between 2021-2026. In India, the organic food market stood at a value of $ 849.5 million in 2020. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of about 20.5 percent in the forecast period of 2021 and 2026 to reach a value of about $ 2,601 million by 2026. Pointing to these encouraging stats, Rishabh says the scope of growth for organic food business is immense in the coming years.
According to him, in the last one and a half years, the demand for organic products has only seen an upward trend, with increased awareness towards healthy eating. “We are a clean labeled brand - our products are all-natural, and without chemicals and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). They promote a chemical-free lifestyle, and are manufactured after thorough research by amalgamating the principles of Ayurveda and botanicals,” says Rishabh.
Naturevibe Botanicals has in its catalogue superfoods, organic food, Ayurvedic supplements, staples, groceries, essential oils, massage oils, etc. The products, over 650 in range, are manufactured in its manufacturing facility located in Raigarh, Maharashtra.
The company, which began with a team of five, now has over 400 people as employees. Rishabh says his network of about 1200 contracted farmers, and around 45 seasonal farmers help in the procurement of clean and pure raw materials.
Adding milestones
A year after beginning operations in India, the country went into a COVID-19 induced lockdown, and many business operations came to a grinding halt.
In 2019, when Rishabh had launched his business in the country, he began by listing his products on Amazon. However, the overnight lockdown made most of the pincodes unserviceable through the ecommerce platform. Not one to be bogged down, Rishabh went about setting up his own D2C model in July 2020 so he could deliver products to his customers directly.
“Amazon has been our primary selling channel both in India and the US, but the pandemic gave us the opportunity to enter the D2C market. Now the number of orders placed on our website is not far behind our orders from Amazon,” Rishabh tells SMBStory.
Naturevibe Botanicals' product range
“During the pandemic, when most companies were laying off employees, we were on the lookout to hire more people as our business didn’t halt,” says Rishabh.
The company won the title of ‘Job Creator of the Year’ at the Amazon Smbhav Summit 2021.
Challenges and competition
Rishabh recalls the early days of his entrepreneurial journey, and admits there were many challenges. He cites dealing with farmer mindsets, and their habituated methods of preventing pest attacks with chemicals, as one of the first obstacles he dealt with. Rishabh says it took him quite some time to convince some of the farmers to make the shift to organic farming, and be patient about it.
Competing with the likes of OZiva, Boldfit, and others, Rishabh says that the coronavirus pandemic has only increased the global demand for healthy and natural food for immunity, such that it has surpassed his imagination.
The way ahead
Naturevibe Botanicals has many new product launches in the pipeline. On expansion plans, Rishabh says he is optimistic that his brand will have a reach in every part of the world.
“We are planning to leverage exports, and are ready to export the best quality of organic food and botanical products to France, Germany, Australia, and Singapore. But before that, we wish to tap every ecommerce channel in India,” concludes Rishabh.
Edited by Anju Narayanan