In conversation with Param Bhargava, the founder of The Ayurveda Co., an Ayurveda brand for millennials and Gen-Z!

Founded by Param Bhargava and Shreedha Singh, T.A.C offers a range of beauty, personal care, baby care, and wellness products that are powered by Ayurveda and modern science.

It was a skin allergy that introduced Shreedha to simple Ayurvedic treatment and put an end to the suffering of 3 years of her skin allergy. Seeing what wonders Ayurveda can do, she and Param did extensive research for 2 years and founded Khadi Essentials in 2019. Later with the success of Khadi Essentials and an aim to grow holistically, the duo started T.A.C- The Ayurveda Co., a brand that aims to reintroduce Ayurveda as a lifestyle for millennials and Gen-Z.

T.A.C. has also become India’s first start-up to get its seed funding from investment giants such as Wipro Consumer Care.

Abhishansa Mathur was in a candid conversation with Param Bhargava about the journey of starting T.A.C., challenges, future plans, and much more.

1. Can you tell us something about yourself?       

I founded Khadi Essentials and T.A.C- The Ayurveda Co. After investing so many years in the consumer goods industry, I have dedicated my professional experience to create a distinctive and indigenous Ayurveda brand, T.A.C for millennials and Gen-Z. Furthermore, I aim to develop T.A.C as a one-stop solution for beauty, personal care, and baby care to wellness and other concerns of consumers with Ayurveda’s power and potential to heal the world.

2. Please share the What, When, & How of starting your brand, The Ayurveda Co.?

T.A.C started in 2021 with the vision of creating a young community that believes in the mighty powers of Ayurveda and not just accepts but chooses to adapt to it in their life at every stage, i.e., from before birth (sexual wellness) till old age. The products were conceptualized to create solutions for everyday problems related to skin, beauty, and healthcare. With Khadi Essentials as the parent brand, T.A.C had all the primary strengths of Ayurveda’s knowledge and created a pool of high-quality and right-priced consumer-oriented products for the greater masses.

3. Can you walk us through your journey so far? What was your inspiration?

T.A.C is the result of our personal connection with Ayurveda. When Shreedha shifted to Gurugram, amidst the hectic lifestyle and work, she got a chronic skin problem known as Hives. After trying every possible solution offered by modern medications, Ayurveda came to her rescue. In the south of India, Shreedha understood the essence of Ayurveda, the grace & simplicity it holds, and the power to simplify any health-related troubles.

The struggle is the time and effort Ayurveda demands & consumers' myths about Ayurveda's effectiveness. So, Shreedha & I wanted to bring out this Science of Life for the masses at the right price points in the highest quality to make it available for everyone so that people can adopt Ayurveda in their everyday lives easier.

4. What challenges did you face while running The Ayurveda Co.? When you started VS Now?

The first & foremost challenge that I face is people’s lack of awareness of Ayurveda. It has been an indispensable part of our lives in one way or the other, but the modern healthcare industry has propagated that Ayurveda is slow and ineffective. It is a challenge to break the stigma fabricated around Ayurveda and to pull down the efforts put into building the wall through the ages to bring out and about the true power of Ayurveda in front of everyone.

Nowadays, T.A.C- The Ayurveda Co., faces the challenge of fake and counterfeit products emerging in the market within a year of the brand’s inception. When you are growing at a rocketing pace, finding the right talent and resources is the biggest challenge.

Also Read: Know how after borrowing Rs. 35,000 from her father, Shahnaz Husain started her first herbal clinic at her home in Delhi!

5. What Beauty & Wellness trends do you foresee?    

In the upcoming years, trends like diversity and inclusion, sustainability, cruelty-free and vegan products, gender neutrality, and organic and natural products will significantly impact the beauty and wellness industry. Clean beauty, a trend that emerged in the west, has taken steps in India as well. Post-COVID-19, people tend to stick to clean & natural products, leading them to organic, ayurvedic solutions for beauty & personal care.

6. Give us some background on your sourcing of raw materials?

Our ingredients are sourced from all across the country, and some are imported depending on the requirements of the formulation. The chosen ingredients are certified with various quality standards and ethically sourced, usually with the vision to support local farmers of the respective areas to generate employment. For our scrubs, the ingredients are from the Himalayas' foothills, dried in the shade to contain their efficacy, are hand-pounded and milled with sieved cloth, and packed fresh & served in containers.

7. What, according to you, makes The Ayurveda Co. stand out amongst other brands?

The Ayurveda market in India has been growing exponentially. For ages, the divide between mass Ayurveda & premium Ayurveda has polarized the audience. Within the audience's awareness of Ayurveda, they could choose mass ayurvedic products that didn't match the quality expectations or premium ayurvedic products which were not affordable for the masses.This is where T.A.C comes into the picture. Our innovation lies in bringing out such high-quality ayurvedic products at the most affordable price points for the masses. Our formulations are majorly concern-oriented. This way, we bring solutions from the dusted pages of Ayurveda to millennials and Gen Z, creating a connection with the 5000-year-old science of life.

8. How are you using social media to promote your homegrown brand?

Although growing competition necessitates better planning, we think social media is crucial for boosting brand recognition, generating engagement, and recalling with our viewers. Our primary social media approach is to "Create, Curate, and Share Engaging Content" to loop in the younger generation and introduce them to Ayurveda in a way that they are intrigued by it. Our social media team prefers to use an integrated strategy combining setting up shop and marketing the brand on social media. This approach is a great way to increase sales for our company.

As a home-grown company, we keep sharing client reviews in a series of posts to encourage word-of-mouth feedback from other satisfied consumers.

9. What is your 5-year plan for T.A.C- The Ayurveda Co.?

T.A.C. is reaching a 100 cr revenue in less than 24 months. The journey for us will begin from there since, in the next 5 years, we foresee our expansion across multiple categories of Ayurveda, with revolutionary formulations and a high-quality product range at affordable prices. In the bigger picture, we aim to be a part of 5 cr households with our solution-driven, safe & ayurvedic range of products. In the next 5 years, we target 5x profitability making T.A.C.'s debut in the I.P.O. market.

10. Can you share your business model with us?

We are working on the D2C model through an Omnichannel presence. After getting a start through online presence from our website, and over 40+ marketplaces, T.A.C. has entered the retail market through 14 exclusive brand outlets P.A.N. India and 300+ trades so far.

11. One advice/suggestion you’d like to give aspiring entrepreneurs out there.

For entrepreneurs – this is the time to build anything you want because right now, the people of India are embracing the change they see. They are open to trying new brands made in India and exploring and experimenting. Focus on inclusive growth, and not just wealth accumulation. It should be equally distributed to generate more employment in the market, up-scaling people’s lifestyles so that the industry flourishes.

Always be true and transparent in your approach. Never look for shortcuts and do the hard work because shortcuts don’t sustain for long. The legacy & traditions that come from the roots of India holds the greatest strength to solve our problems, even in modern times. Always believe in the traditional ways of life, and be rooted as you take the flights of success.

Param suggests trying their best-sellers Kumkumadi Facewash & Shilajit from the beauty & wellness categories if you are looking for something good for your skin.

Also Read: Meet Aanchal and Arpan the sister-duo behind the fine jewellery brand Carat Crush!

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