RETAIL: An ayurveda products brand finds itself a profitable niche.

Mira Kulkarni, an ayurvedic aficionado used to casually give away her self-made,
ayurvedic handmade soaps to friends a few years ago.
She had no clue then that she would one day be busy with the final details of op
ening her fourth stand-alone store in Delhi for her natural skincare and haircar
e brand made from ayurveda recipes — Forest Essentials.
When Kulkarni started Forest Essentials in the year 2000 with an investment of R
s 2 lakh, and a product range of just handmade soaps and candles, she claims to
have been unfazed by competition from established brands like Biotique and Shahn
az in the niche market for ayurveda personal care products.
“That’s because I did not start it as a business venture, so never thought of compet
ition,” she quips.
As Kulkarni’s initial product range of candles and soaps started selling like hot
cakes, Kulkarni decided to expand the product range to other skincare and hairca
re products.
She began with positioning her products in personal care stores but moved to the
stand-alone strategy a year-and-a-half ago. “Perception of the brand changes when
it’s projected the way you want,” she says.
Not only is Kulkarni planning to add on a store each in Delhi (which has four no
w) and Mumbai (which has one) by the end of the year, she is also planning a pre
sence in other metros. “Bangalore, Kolkata and Goa present huge markets for us,” say
s Kulkarni.
So how long does she think the ayurveda fad will last? “Though somethings are fadd
ist, like ayurveda right now, people do get hooked on to good quality product.”
You can see how strong the hook is by the growth numbers of the company — Forest E
ssentials claims to have grown 100 per cent every year.
It posted sales of Rs 6 crore in 2005-06, and is expected to double that number
this year, the constraint to growth being supply rather than demand. “We cannot ev
en produce enough to meet our own demand,” claims Kulkarni.
Forest Essentials ventured into the overseas market one- and-a-half years ago fo
r retail supply to hotels and spas and is also seen in up-market hotels and spas
in the country.

With a price range of Rs 100 (soaps)— Rs 2,000 (serums and night creams) in the sk
incare range and hair oils between Rs 395 - Rs 495 (200 ml), Forest Essentials’ cl
ients are from among the well-off, who are scooping up these products from a lad
y who is a cross between a modern chemist and an ayurveda ved.

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Purchases Minority Stake in Indian Beauty Brand, F
orest Essentials
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) announced today that it has purchased a
minority stake in a privately held Indian company, MOUNTAIN VALLEY SPRINGS INDIA
PRIVATE LIMITED, that manufactures, markets and sells beauty products, under th
e Forest Essentials brand, which are based on Ayurvedic formulations. Terms of t
he agreement were not disclosed.
Forest Essentials, which was founded in 2000 by Mira Kulkarni, uses pure essenti
al oils and natural plant extracts in its range of skin, body and hair care prod
ucts. Its portfolio of more than 100 SKUs is sold in the Company s seven freesta
nding stores and in high-end hotels and spas across India.
"Forest Essentials gives us a stronger presence in the rapidly expanding prestig
e beauty business in India," said William P. Lauder, Chief Executive Officer of
The Estée Lauder Companies. "We have seen how more and more consumers around the w
orld are interested in beauty products with a natural heritage. This agreement w
ill help us expand our growing expertise and competitiveness in the natural prod
ucts arena while Forest Essentials will benefit from our long history of success
ful brand management and global expansion."
"Forest Essentials is the top spa brand in the country and is very strong in the
ultra-luxury resort and hotel channel with its small amenities packaging," said
Carrie Mellage, director of the Consumer Products practice for Kline’s market res
earch group. "The brand targets wealthy international travelers, and this has al
ready gained it some worldwide exposure because guests use the products at the r
esort and then purchase them for home use."
According to Kline s Professional Skin Care 2007: India Market Analysis and Oppo
rtunities report, Forest Essentials holds an 18.4% share in the burgeoning India
n spa market, which is expected to grow by more than 13% annually through 2012.
The Company s products are rooted in age-old treatments from ancient Ayurvedic s
criptures, updated with innovative textures and scents. Forest Essential s best-
selling products include the Rose Crystal Salt Body Polisher, the Hand Pounded O
rganic Fruit Scrub and the Soundarya Facial Age Defying Serum.
"We are delighted to gain The Estée Lauder Companies brand-building and marketing
expertise, which will help take Forest Essentials to the next level," said Mira
Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer of Forest Essentials. "We look forward to exp
anding our unique brand, which harnesses an age-old holistic philosophy to creat
e a new beauty ideal."
The Estée Lauder Companies began selling its products in India in July 2005 with t
he opening of a freestanding M A C store in Mumbai, in the heart of Bollywood. C
urrently it sells six brands in India, including M A C, Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Ka
ran, Aramis, Clinique and most recently Estée Lauder.
Beauty Queen
Mira Kulkarni 52
Founder and director, Forest Essentials
The first thing that strikes you about Mira Kulkarni is her deep and unwavering
belief in her company and what she strives for it to be. Her brand was born of a
quest that started at Rishikesh and has since matured into a successful company
. A student of fine arts from Stella Maris College, Chennai, Kulkarni’s venture in
to the beauty business started on her visits to Rishikesh, where she has a home.
It was here that she uncovered a “wealth of knowledge” among the ayurveda doctors.
And so Forest Essentials was born.
She started the company in 2001 with an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh and five
employees. Now, it has an annual turnover of about Rs 25 crores with 120 employ
ees and eight outlets. In July this year, cosmetics giant Estee Lauder picked up
, up to 15 per cent of equity stake in the company.
Her agenda has always been to make “luxurious ayurvedic products”. It wasn’t easy. An
underdeveloped market in India was difficult as was introducing the concept of a
yurveda to the Indian consumer. “India is a very cost conscious market. A bottle o
f almond oil is seen in terms of its aroma and price and not actual quality,” she
says.
Eight years down, Kulkarni seems to have met her objective, turning traditional
beauty therapies into luxury products. A mother of two, a son aged 32 and a 30-y
ear-old daughter, Kulkarni’s take on unwinding sees her prowling through the dusty
corridors of libraries, delving into the past, searching for more ayurvedic rem
edies that she can bring to store shelves.
Beauty ritual
1. Keep your skin moisturised. It’s the only way to feel beautiful.
2. Do ten minutes of yoga every morning or whenever one gets the time.
3. A teaspoon of karela juice every morning is like the elixir for internal and
external wellbeing
4. Make time for yourself, it helps maintaining a balance.
5. Enjoy the work that you are doing. It shows.

The Write Stuff

Pooja Jain 32
Executive Director, Luxor Writing Instruments
She was born into wealth, but Pooja Jain climbed the beanstalk to the position o
f executive director, Luxor Writing Instruments, only after proving her dedicati
on as product manager and general manager. But she didn’t immediately dive into th
e well-oiled Luxor machine. “My first job was with Gillette International, where I
worked as a management trainee for 10 months,” says Jain, who has a diploma in in
ternational business and organisational behaviour from the London School of Econ
omics (LSE) in 1997.
The seeds of success were sown while she was in school, she recalls. Accompanyin
g her father, chairman and president of Luxor group D.K. Jain, to Japan on a bus
iness trip, she discovered her true calling, marketing. “I was in awe of my father’s
position among the best in the world,” says Jain, who knew that it would be the p
innacle or nothing else for her.
She was single-minded in her determination to get there. After LSE, all the piec
es of the puzzle began to come together and Jain began a rocky yet focused ventu
re. She joined Parker after it was launched as a joint venture with Gillette in
India in 1996, as a product manager, focusing on business development, handling
the institutional department, and direct selling division. She launched the b2b
division of Luxor Writing Instruments in 1998 and its value went from Rs 2 crore
to Rs 20 crore.
But it wasn’t a cakewalk. “My first boss was an American. If I walked in late to wor
k, I earned a sarcastic ‘good afternoon’ from him,” laughs Jain, who now heads the Wri
ting Instruments division with an annual turnover of Rs 300 crore with the top 5
,000 companies among its clientele. She also introduced Amitabh Bachchan as amba
ssador to boost the brand’s value. It has since grown by 30 per cent annually.
To polish her skills in other departments, Jain also did a stint with Gillette,
India, and trained in the finance division. Jain then returned to the Luxor Grou
p as general manager, marketing. It was here that she proved her mettle, convert
ing challenges into milestones of success. “It was a gradual process, but I was ac
cepted as a professional instead of the owner’s daughter,” she says. Opportunities c
ame her way, and her response to tasks was spontaneous, “it helped me gain accepta
bility among my colleagues”. “People had their reservations about me but I reached o
ut to my staff in time and in my own way,” she adds.
But for Jain, perfection and success are the far side of the sky. Some projects
in the pipeline for 2008 are to reorient the retail strategy of the division, di
versify Luxor stationery, open various e-commerce channels and expand the Parker
brand. “It’s one of the biggest companies in the writing instruments and stationary
sector in the country and I intend to retain that premier position,” adds Jain.
Beauty ritual
1. Stay focused and stick to what is important.
2. Beauty is about the person within. Stay happy and the radiance will reflect o
n your face.
3. Cultivate a unique style. You will always stand apart and be admired for it.
4. Stay natural, excessive use of cosmetics and products will damage your skin.
5. Avoid the intake of carbohydrates during dinner and drink a lot of water. It
will help clear your skin.