Gurugram-based Organic Beauty Products Provider SoulTree Plan to Expand Its Retail Presence Across India
Vishal Bhandari was looking for ways to improve the livelihood of organic farmers in Uttarakhand with whom he had been working for over 6 years. One of the ideas was to build a range of organic beauty products from the organic herbs they were growing. His search for a suitable partner led him to the discovery that there was no manufacturer of genuinely beneficial cosmetic products. Most of them, including few very reputed ones, were using chemicals, in some cases carcinogenic ones at that, whilst claiming the herbal or Ayurvedic tag. Worst still, they were not even listing all the ingredients used in the products, thus depriving the customers of the right to choose what they use. That’s when Bhandari felt the need to raise such awareness amongst consumers and at the same time an opportunity to offer them a range of genuinely natural cosmetics, devoid of harmful chemicals with an authentic third party guarantee.
“When I left my Merchant Navy job, I had started work on projects for sustainable development and soon founded Vedicare Ayurveda Pvt. Ltd., under the brand SoulTree in 2013. It took me 3-4 years of R&D to produce certifiable natural cosmetics. The aim was to create a unique combination of organic products based on Ayurvedic principles, with a strong efficacy under BDIH, Germany standards, a hallmark for Certified Natural Cosmetics,” he says.
The current investment in the company has been organic with some raised from the family savings, however, Bhandari plans to raise capital from the external sources for larger expansion plans.
Well, in this health conscious world, Bhandari through his company is committed to offer employment to semi-skilled workers, through its NGO partners. He feels SoulTree will only witness greater recall as a brand that is passionate in its commitments and built on sustainable business principles. “We are already expanding rapidly across India, as well as have strong presence in Japan and Europe. Our hope is to drive the trend towards organic and natural beauty products both in the domestic and international markets.”
In 2016, SoulTree introduced new packaging and categories across personal care and beauty care. “We have 50+ products and the range is present across selected stores in metros, Tier-I/ Tier-II cities.”
With a plan to expand its retail presence across India, through more niche and lifestyle stores, now the aim is to increase digital footprint through e-commerce portal in 2017.
