With the growing awareness and acceptance of natural, organic and vegan products as a healthier and safer option, there is a burgeoning demand globally for body care products having these credentials. India is no exception. Volamena Organics Lab Inc., a skin care organic product maker with a presence in the United States of America and India, is a prominent player that is eyeing a bigger chunk of this promising market. In an interview to Cosmedic India, Sandeep Chauhan, Manager – Operations lays bare the ambitious plans of his company in India as well as abroad. Excerpts of the interview:
How is the demand for organic body care products shaping up in India?
Till a decade-and-a-half ago, the maximum demand and supply was for generic products. Take the case of shampoos. Every brand had an all-purpose, all-user-type shampoo. There seldom was any specialisation for a product category. There were hardly any organic body care products around too. Only about 20 per cent of the consumers used to insist on buying natural, organic and vegan products back then. It was also the time when, on an average, only about 25 body care product specific exhibitions used to be held annually across India, and most of them were concentrated only in Mumbai and Delhi.
Today, such demand is coming from 80 per cent of the consumers. You will also come across two to three industry exhibitions every month across different cities–going well beyond the traditional metro centers.
The burgeoning demand for organic products has several reasons. People have become knowledgeable and health conscious and appreciate the advantages of using organic products. The information is galore on the Internet, which enhances knowledge and also a demand for such products. The media, both digital and print, feature a large number of articles on organic products and their benefits.
To give you some insight into our strategy, in addition to strengthening our product basket with newer and richer organic products, we are also applying for the Kosher and PETA approval certifications. We are already ISO and Indian FDA (Food and Drug Administration) certified.
How many product categories does Volamena have, and what are their distinct features?
We call ourselves an organic skincare products maker, and have three categories of offerings – skincare, body care and hair care. Very soon, we will also be launching specialised child care products.
Every product of ours is made with a lot of research – to address the real concerns of the consumer. This means we have different products for different concerns. For example, in the skincare segment, we have different products that take care of common concerns such as dark spots and uneven skin colour; or in body care, we have sun and UV protection products; and in the hair care range, we address the consumer concerns such as weak and thin hair, dry and damaged hair, among others.
What will be the highlights of the soon-to-be-launched child care products?
Child care products will be soon launched for kids aged from 1.5 to 8 years, and these will include moisturising lotions, body washes, shampoos, body massage oils, and a few other classes.
Some of the leading child care product manufacturers have been constantly facing consumer complaints and litigations, and this mainly has to do with the contentious mineral oils they use as ingredients. These companies have also been banned in several countries. But the ingredients that we will use for our child care products, will give confidence to parents that Volamena is the healthiest and safest brand for their child. The process to get “MADE SAFE” certificate, a vital criterion for selling baby care products in the Americas, is currently on.
Kindly describe your distribution and retail network in India.
We currently have distributors in North and South India, and is in the process of tying up with distributors in the Western, Eastern and Central zones. Our staff strength is 34 and once we set up our presence in the new regions, we will have over 60 personnel.
How has the implementation of GST impacted the way you do business?
GST has simplified the way we do business across India. With GST, there are no separate taxes for different states anymore. We can focus more on the actual sales without worrying too much about multiple tax-payment windows.
What are your global expansion plans?
We are all set to enter the Middle Eastern markets. Consumers in the Middle East have always been knowledgeable about and receptive to high quality body care products. According to a recent survey, about 80 per cent of cosmetic products consumed in the Middle East is sourced from China and Korea. But we hope to see an increase in India’s contribution going forward. As far as Volamena is concerned, it is our ambition to garner a 10-12 percent market share within a year of our entry in the Middle East.
Currently, we are closing a few legal formalities and should also sign an exclusive distributor shortly. We have already succeeded in obtaining the Halal certificate that is vital for the Middle East market, for our new manufacturing facility in Kurukshetra, Haryana.
Are you planning to enter any other regions globally?
We are already present in the USA. We are headquartered in Philadelphia. About 25 percent of our revenues come from the United States. In the next few months, we are planning to enter the European and Canadian markets too and are working on the various requirements involved – like the facility, product certifications, distribution tie-ups and legal formalities.
As per Volamena’s Vision 2019, we would be targeting about 15 percent market share each in the Middle East and Europe. Our manufacturing facility in Kurukshetra has obtained the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approvals and the Halal certificate necessary for the Middle East.
Our Kurukshetra facility is working only at about 30 percent of its manufacturing capacity. Once we make a steady progress in our market expansion plans, we look forward to producing 5,000 kilo liters of output every day. By the end of the next financial year, we plan to have more than 100 employees, as by that time, we will have a bigger presence in India as well as in the global market.