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FOREST ESSENTIALS: DEMYSTIFYING INDIA’S LUXURY AYURVEDA

BRAND1

Veena Vohra and Seema Khanvilkar wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to
illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other
identifying information to protect confidentiality.

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Copyright © 2022, Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2022-11-25

In December 2021, Forest Essentials, an Indian luxury Ayurveda beauty and wellness brand, launched its
one hundredth physical store in India.2 Established in 2000 by Mira Kulkarni at Lodsi, in the Tehri Garhwal
region of Uttarakhand in Northern India, and known for its Ayurveda-based personal care and wellness
products, Forest Essentials had become India’s largest player in the luxury hotel amenities and spa business,
catering to over five hundred hospitality chains. The brand’s stores were located in twenty-nine cities across
India, and the seventeen newest stores opened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forest Essentials was the
first luxury Indian skin-care brand to go global, entering the UK market in October 2021 and retailing
through Look Fantastic, Europe’s leading online premium beauty retailer.3 It had plans to open twelve stores
in the United Kingdom by 2024 in places like London, Manchester, and Birmingham and to expand to other
locations later.4 Forest Essentials was ranked seventy-third in The Economic Times list of India’s 150 fastest
growing companies in 2020—the only beauty brand to make the list.5

Despite having a well-established presence in India and global aspirations, the Forest Essentials brand had
to navigate several challenges in order to grow. Global trends in the beauty and wellness segments included
shifts to fragrance-free products, the launch of several prestige brands from established players such as
Coty and Unilever, the acquisition of “green” labels by leaders in the beauty and wellness segment, and the
launch of “inclusive” brands.6 Kulkarni and her son, Samrath Bedi, the chief executive officer of Mountain
Valley Springs (the company that owned the brand Forest Essentials), had to make careful decisions in
competitive, cluttered, yet high-growth marketplaces in India and internationally. Moreover, COVID-19
had kept existing Indian customers away from the exclusive Forest Essentials stores, while Gen Z’s and
millennials’ buying behavior was undergoing tremendous shifts;7 this eroded the core advantage of luxury
brands, which was to provide a decadent, sensory in-store experience.

How should Kulkarni and Bedi sustain Forest Essentials’ “luxury Ayurveda” positioning? Kulkarni and
Bedi could continue to engage with existing customers as well as with young, discerning potential
customers who increasingly demanded sustainable luxury, or they could pursue international growth for
Forest Essentials. Both alternatives seemed viable and attractive.

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GENESIS OF THE BRAND

Kulkarni, a liberal arts graduate with no business degree or experience, first conceived of Forest Essentials
when she visited a Mormon expo in upstate New York in 1999. As she watched demonstrators make soap,
she realized that she could replicate their processes back home in India. “I always wondered why we weren’t
making that quality of soap in India,” Kulkarni reflected.8 She had a family home that she could use in
Rishikesh (in the Tehri Garhwal region)—the hub of Ayurveda and wellness, where she had spent her early
years amid plants and potions.9 Kulkarni capitalized on her connections with the Ayurvedic doctors and
local pharmacies selling handmade soaps, oils, creams, and lotions, but she soon realized that although the
locals used only natural and cheap ingredients that were mixed in earthen containers with no preservatives
or chemicals, their products were ineffective and had strong, unpleasant scents. As a result, the market for
these products was low- and middle-income consumers. Kulkarni decided to put her own stamp on a
medical and wellness tradition that she deeply respected.10

REVIVING THE AYURVEDIC TRADITION

Kulkarni’s friends loved her first batch of fifty honey soaps, which she made by squeezing fresh honey
from the honeycomb. She packaged her soaps in brown paper. Motivated by this positive feedback, she
launched her business in 2000. With an initial investment of ₹200,000,11 she started a small factory on ten
acres of land that she owned while cultivating a small network of credible suppliers around the factory. 12
She named her company Mountain Valley Springs. Kulkarni was unhappy with how local companies used
substandard methods to manufacture Ayurvedic products, and she was determined to change this. The
Ayurvedic method was the purist’s way, focused on cold-pressed oils (involving pressing and grinding fruit
or seeds with granite millstones), while the manufacturers preferred the cheaper and more modern machine-
made processed oil. Ayurvedic practices also mandated picking herbs at the times of the day when they
were most potent, which required skilled labour.13 One of Kulkarni’s first purchases in the factory was an
antique oil press; although none of her labourers were familiar with it, Kulkarni was determined to do things
her way. All her processes were hand-driven, including pounding herbs and pressing oils, and she used only
the most authentic plant, herb, and flower infusions and procured the purest steam-distilled essential oils.14

Kulkarni’s friend suggested the name “Forest Essentials” for her label, and Kulkarni drew a logo featuring a
mango tree around the name. Creating a brand of premium Indian personal care and wellness products was
an audacious move at that time because Ayurveda did not yet have the allure that it enjoyed in later years. The
market for Ayurvedic products was also niche, and heavyweights like Biotique and Shahnaz Husain
dominated it, but Kulkarni was undaunted. “That’s because I did not start it as a business venture, so never
thought of competition,” she explained.15 Soon after, she set up a store in Khan Market, New Delhi, in 2001,
one of the toniest retail locations in the country. It was a leap of faith, but Kulkarni’s handmade soaps, candles,
and oils flew off the shelves despite the high prices. Within days of opening the store, she ran out of stock,
and had to shut the shop for two days to restock it. In a Fortune India article, Kulkarni said, “We had no idea
of the supply chain, we didn’t even know how to outfit the store. We didn’t know how to replenish.”16

From then on, however, the brand grew as organically as her products. Kulkarni recalled, “At that time, there
was a need for high-quality Indian skin-care products. It was just the right idea at the right time.”17 Kulkarni
drew on the mystique of Ayurveda and took it out of the realm of vaidyas (traditional practitioners), making
it appear glamorous and sensuous. She changed the consumer’s perception of Ayurveda from a traditional
form of healing with minimal packaging to something luxurious that promoted wellness. As she said in an
interview with The Economic Times, “We gave the brand a connotation of luxury. Our USP [unique selling
point] has been in making the use of such products light, pleasurable and utilitarian.”18

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All of Forest Essentials’ products were based on Ayurvedic recipes and preserved the company’s core
values of purity and sensory pleasure, and none were ever tested on animals. The processes for creating
products such as the best-selling anti-aging cream containing dates and litchis were esoteric and epitomized
slow luxury. Ancient Ayurvedic wisdom dictated that to maximize the benefits of the cream, the fruits had
to be fermented for a certain length of time in the shade of a banyan tree. While mixing the ingredients for
a cream based on an early-seventeenth-century formulation, the workers chanted special mantras that
Kulkarni insisted were “for positive vibrations. I have been asked over the years, ‘Do they really do this
chant?’ They really do. It imbibes the energy into the product.”19

The Forest Essentials product range was divided into five segments: skin care, hair care, body care,
wellness, and makeup, the latter being the most recent addition, and the brand based its large portfolio of
creams and lotions on the motto: “If you cannot eat it, do not use it on your skin.” 20 The Forest Essentials
team sourced its ingredients from trusted vendors all over the country; they bought ghee (clarified butter
primarily used in Indian cooking)—which was a vital ingredient in their products—from an organic source
and avoided the wholesale oil dealers. Kulkarni’s factory extracted sesame, almond, and mustard oil the
old-fashioned way. Saffron from Kashmir, Jasmine from Madurai, roses from Kannauj, lemongrass from
Ooty, and sandalwood from Mysuru—all elements associated with India—were featured in Forest
Essentials products.21 The challenge was getting enough of those quality raw materials to keep production
on schedule, so they created gardens for herbs across India to get a consistent supply of ingredients. The
objective was to be distinctive; as Anupam Kapoor, Forest Essentials’ head of supply chain and
manufacturing, stated, “We don’t want to go to someone who does en masse, then we get mixed with the
crowd and our essence gets lost somewhere. The solution to this is to work with small landowners, and see
if at some level we can do an aggregation.”22

GROWING THE LUXURY BRAND

After the success of the Khan Market store, Forest Essentials had its first corporate customer: in 2002, the
general manager at the Hyatt Regency in Delhi was so enamoured with the products that he included them
in the hotel’s room amenities. Gradually the clientele list grew to include large hotel chains like Taj Hotels,
the Oberoi Group, the Ritz Carlton, and the Four Seasons, each of which had special concoctions blended
for them.23 Shortly after, it also started supplying to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.24 While the brand might have
grown faster had Kulkarni sold her goods in multi-brand shops or adopted a franchise partner, she decided
to buck the prevailing trend and follow her vision, making an exception only for the LVMH-owned
cosmetics retail chain Sephora. She did not want her products jostling for space with others in pharmacy
and grocery stores, maintaining that “once you get past a certain bend, the business comes to you. The
challenge is in knowing when to say ‘no’ and then saying it.”25 When distributors from West Asia wanted
to take the brand overseas, she declined the offer despite the tempting sales potential, believing that
“perception of the brand changes when it’s projected the way you want.”26 Kulkarni’s son, Bedi, quit his
job as a banker with Standard Chartered in 2001 to join her and create a new category in the natural beauty
space. Forest Essentials provided a sumptuous experience for its customers in India, whose spending and
consumption patterns were slowly changing. Bedi explained, “We were selling a lifestyle, we had to create
our own ecosystem to give an experience to the consumer.”27

In 2008, Estée Lauder picked up a 20 per cent stake in Forest Essentials, making it the first Indian brand in
the global behemoth’s roster.28 Leonard Lauder, the chair of Estée Lauder, had visited the company’s Khan
Market outlet in March 2007. Fascinated by how Kulkarni had built up the label, he met with her and asked
what she had envisioned for the future of her company. She replied, “I want to do exactly what you’ve done.”29
A few months later, Estée Lauder group president Phillip Shearer flew to India and finalized the private equity

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deal that would combine Estée Lauder’s strengths—such as technical knowledge, marketing and distribution,
and quality control—with Forest Essentials’ assurance of growth and insights into the Indian market.30 It was
a move designed to boost Estée Lauder’s specialty retail expansion strategy and capture a larger share of the
burgeoning personal care market in India, which was then worth US$6.3 billion.31 In 2014, Estée Lauder
bought another 20 per cent share in the company, endorsing Lauder’s earlier statement:

We made it [the investment] because there is a certain authority that emerges from India that the
Indian consumer perceives is unique. Over time, we believe the market will evolve and begin to
have a demand of its own. The consumer may want a brand that she can say is “mine” and not a
foreign brand. Finally, you invest in people as much as you invest in a company, and Mira Kulkarni
is just that kind of a person.32

Apart from facilitating the expansion into international markets, the deal with Estée Lauder also funded an
automated factory and a research and development laboratory in Haridwar that followed stringent quality
control measures and Estée Lauder’s processes. Bedi also noted that Forest Essentials was getting repeat
customers from countries overseas, like Nigeria, where it had not made any marketing efforts.33

BEAUTY AND WELLNESS INDUSTRY TRENDS

India’s beauty and personal care industry was valued at ₹54.56 billion in 2020, and the market was expected
to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11 per cent between 2022 and 2027.34 The Luxury
Ayurveda market in India showed a CAGR of 16.2 per cent from 2016 to 2022; Forest Essentials enjoyed the
largest share of the market, with 25–30 per cent of this segment. The value of the Indian Ayurveda industry
was projected to reach ₹1 trillion by 2025.35 Euromonitor’s 2019 beauty survey showed that over 50 per cent
of Indian consumers indicated a preference for skin-care and hair-care products with natural or botanical
ingredients, compared to around 20 per cent of consumers who preferred lower-priced products.36 Consumers
in the Asia Pacific region also favoured beauty and personal care products with natural, plant-based
ingredients, which was encouraging for Ayurveda; likewise, niche consumer segments in North America and
Western Europe that had adopted related concepts like meditation and yoga were increasingly interested in
Ayurvedic beauty formulations.37 In the late 2010s, the definition of “beauty” was becoming more global,
expansive, and associated with an individual’s sense of well-being; the global upheaval of the COVID-19
pandemic created a greater shift in the mindset of consumers to adopt “the natural look” and embrace the
clean-beauty trend.38 Bedi predicted that mindful consumption and “skinimalism,” the 2021 trend of adopting
simple beauty and skin-care routines with quality products tailored to their needs, would continue into 2022.39

Globally, the personal luxury goods industry demonstrated a V-shaped recovery in 2021, growing by 29
per cent to reach €283 billion.40 Bain & Company estimates showed that this market could see a sustained
annual growth of 6–8 per cent, as high as €380 billion by 2025.41

Kulkarni’s closest competitor in India was Kama Ayurveda, another home-grown brand. Kama Ayurveda
was established in 2002; it had a similar trajectory to Forest Essentials in that Puig, a Barcelona-based
fashion and fragrance business (with brands such as Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera, and Jean Paul Gaultier
in its stable), bought a minority stake in Kama Ayurveda for ₹1 billion in 2019.42 The early movers in the
natural beauty products space, Shahnaz Husain and Biotique, no longer mattered to Forest Essentials.
Husain had gone masstige, with her products priced anywhere from ₹145 to ₹8,000 for pearl-based creams;
however, she also sold her products at upmarket store Selfridges through distributors and franchisees.
Biotique had first sold its products to premium hotels and resorts and then targeted the bottom of the
pyramid by retailing its products everywhere: through pharmacies, mom-and-pop stores, and its own

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boutiques. Competition did not worry the mother-son duo; as Tara Anthony, senior manager of digital
marketing and e-commerce at Forest Essentials, stated, the company aimed “to be the global leader in
luxurious Ayurveda based on traditional Indian formulations for holistic beauty.” 43 Bedi similarly
remarked, “What we have created as a category, it has a huge appeal worldwide. I think we have a billion-
dollar brand in our hands.”44

Traditional Indian beauty rituals also inspired Forest Essentials’ foray into natural makeup in late 2020 as
an extension of its brand philosophy of the luxury of purity.45 Forest Essentials accelerated its global
expansion plans thanks to the renewed interest in Ayurvedic beauty products during the COVID-19
pandemic. There was a surge in demand for Forest Essentials products, and consumers considered skin-
care and beauty items the “new essentials,” according to Anthony, who stated, “When we resumed sales
first in India and later even internationally, it became clear the demand for skin care products is very much
there, in fact, higher than before. People are spending more time now taking care of their skin and hair.”46
According to Bedi, the company wanted to establish itself firmly in India before entering the international
market; once it did, the United Kingdom became one of its largest markets outside of India, with e-
commerce representing 30 per cent of its total business.47 Regarding the company’s ambitious expansion
plans, Bedi stated, “The company hopes to further grow to twelve stores through [the United Kingdom] by
2024, alongside the [Middle East], south-east Asia and the [United States]. The aim is to be present in seven
to eight countries within the next three to five years.”48

During the COVID-19 pandemic, online sales accounted for almost 74 per cent of Forest Essentials’
business, whereas the pre-pandemic figure was just 18 per cent. When in-person activities began returning,
offline sales were back on track, though online sales also increased to around 27 per cent, leading Bedi to
comment, “It has reached a space from where it will continue to grow.”49 As stated in a feature in The Voice
of Fashion, “In its filing to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (accessed through Tofler), Forest Essentials’
parent company Mountain Valley Springs India Pvt. Ltd. reported net revenues of ₹2.53 billion in 2019–
20, a 25 per cent increase from the previous year. But it saw only a 17 per cent decline in its revenues in fiscal
year 2020–21, to just under ₹210 billion, in lieu of their stores being closed.”50

THEMES FROM FOREST ESSENTIALS CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS

Forest Essentials developed a unique connection with its customers over the years. Interviews conducted
with the brand’s customers revealed several reasons for people choosing and staying with Forest Essentials;
however, there were cautionary notes as well.51 One theme that emerged in these interviews was “Gentle,
chemical-free skin care.” Vineeta Dwivedi, a forty-five-year-old communications professional and a Forest
Essentials loyalist for the past sixteen years, had sensitive skin, so she chose Forest Essentials products
because they were chemical-free, in addition to being cruelty-free.

The theme of “purity-based trust” resonated with customers as well; Deepa Mansukhani, a sixty-four-year-
old homemaker from Mumbai, believed that Forest Essentials products were expensive but were a complete
indulgence and efficacious. She trusted the brand implicitly and believed in the purity of its ingredients.
Similarly, Sukita Tapadia, aged thirty-seven, originally from Jharkhand and working with a start-up, loved
the brand and its commitment to Ayurveda as much as she loved shopping at Forest Essentials’ brand stores.
She trusted the brand and had continued using it during her pregnancy, even though her partner would not
use the same products because of their “feminine” fragrances, like jasmine and rose.

The theme of “indulgent luxury” also emerged from the customer interviews. This theme was related to self-
care and successful and consistent luxury customer experiences, such as the experience of Arti Havaldar, a

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fifty-nine-year-old businesswoman from Mumbai. She loved Forest Essentials’ fragrances and packaging, and
she frequently gave the products to friends and family as gifts. She enjoyed visiting the Mumbai Forest
Essentials store with its beautiful ambience and attentive staff, who pampered her and plied her with samples.

Customers also described Forest Essentials as expensive. Falguni Agarwal, a twenty-four-year-old working
woman from Ranchi, found Forest Essentials products costly and had switched to close competitor Kama
Ayurveda (see Exhibit 1). An online shopper, she believed that for the price, the quantity was insufficient,
and she hoped to get samples for trials. Agarwal’s experience was similar to those of other customers, who
looked forward to trying Forest Essentials products but found them too expensive. To encourage customers
to try new offerings, Forest Essentials started providing three samples with every order placed online; the
practice was already in place for customers who shopped in-store.52

FUTURE GROWTH AND CHALLENGES

Estée Lauder’s 40 per cent stake in the brand raised issues that Kulkarni had to navigate in areas such as routine
management, decision-making, and control. An early contentious issue was Forest Essentials’ vibrant and
colourful packaging. Kulkarni convinced Leonard Lauder to retain the Indian branding style, though the latter’s
team wanted a more modern touch.53 How would the partnership balance these perspectives in the future?

Additionally, with major international beauty and wellness brands such as Amorepacific entering India,
there was concern over whether price-conscious Indian consumers would purchase an expensive local
brand.54 Several international brands had also begun to mention Ayurveda in their branding and product
descriptions, including Aveda (bought by Estée Lauder), the luxury Australian brand Sodashi, and
Sundari.55 What did this mean for Forest Essentials in the international market?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several Indian skin-care brands, including Purearth, Juicy Chemistry, Ohria
Ayurveda, Earth Rhythm, Suganda, and Dr. Sheth’s, had entered the market, and beauty influencers were
endorsing them online. Similar offerings with better value for money—higher product quantities for the same
prices—could dent Forest Essentials’ market share.56 Established global players such as Unilever, Coty, and
Procter & Gamble were also acquiring value-driven brands to consolidate their presence in the prestige beauty
and wellness market and tap into the burgeoning demand for sustainability and purpose-led luxury products.57
These moves were reflected in the findings of Bain & Company’s 2021 report on the luxury market (see
Exhibit 2) and Statista reports projecting that the prestige skin-care segment revenue would be US$808 million
in 2022, with the market expected to grow year on year by 7.08 per cent (CAGR 2022–2025).58

Taking these marketplace moves into consideration, should Kulkarni and Bedi focus on Forest Essentials’
existing and potential customers in India, or should their strategy include an aggressive push toward
delivering the brand’s USP—high-quality, luxury Ayurveda beauty and wellness products—to international
markets and customers?59

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EXHIBIT 1: PRICE COMPARISON CHART, AS OF DECEMBER 2021

Company / Product Price (₹) Size

Forest Essentials
Forest Essentials Advanced Eternal Youth Formula Date and Litchi 4,200 50 g
Forest Essentials Soundarya Radiance Cream with 24K Gold and SPF 25 4,800 50 g
Forest Essentials Tejasvi Brightening Emulsion 2,175 30 ml
Forest Essentials Ojas Illuminating Night Beauty Balm 3,800 30 g
Forest Essentials Bhringraj Hair Vitalizer 1,195 130 ml

Kama Ayurveda
Kama Ayurveda Nalpamaradi Thailam Skin Brightening Treatment 950 100 ml
Kama Ayurveda Kumkumadi Night Serum 2,550 12 ml
Kama Ayurveda Eladi Face Cream 1,495 50 g
Kama Ayurveda Rose Jasmine Face Cleanser 450 50 ml
Kama Ayurveda Pure Rosewater Face and Body Mist 1,150 200 ml

Juicy Chemistry
Chilli, Horsetail and Black Seed Organic Hair Oil 1,050 30 ml
Bulgarian Rose Water (Hydrosol) 350 50 ml
Saffron and Red Raspberry Facial Oil 650 10 ml
Hemp, Tea Tree and Neem Face Wash 650 100 ml
Neroli, Rosehip and Tamanu Body Butter 850 75 g

Note: ₹ = INR = Indian rupee; US$1 = ₹74.87 on December 1, 2021; g = gram; ml = millilitre.
Source: Prices of products reported on company websites, all accessed June 9, 2022: Forest Essentials (website),
https://www.forestessentialsindia.com; Kama Ayurveda (website), https://www.kamaayurveda.com; Juicy Chemistry
(website), https://www.juicychemistry.com.

EXHIBIT 2: HIGHLIGHTS FROM BAIN & COMPANY LUXURY GOODS MARKET REPORT,
NOVEMBER 11, 2021

The 2021 Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study by Bain & Company shows that while the luxury market
is returning to pre-COVID-19 levels, luxury customers now expect increased personalization, value-based
alignment, and a robust sustainability agenda from brands. Business models and brands will also have to
accommodate new challenges, such as branding in the metaverse. The report also shares that online and
monobrand stores were key to the revival of luxury goods sales in 2021, and that customers preferred
single-brand websites to other online platforms.

Bain & Company partner Claudia D’Arpizio describes the shift in focus of luxury brands as follows: “The
changes in the luxury industry over the past 20 years have been remarkable, and the emergence from the
Covid crisis comes as a renaissance for luxury brands.” She adds, “Where once it was all about status,
logos and exclusivity, luxury brands are now actors in social conversations, driven by a renewed sense of
purpose and responsibility.”

Source: Bain & Company, “Luxury Market Rebounds in 2021, Set to Return to Historic Growth Trajectory,” press release,
November 11, 2021, https://www.bain.com/about/media-center/press-releases/2021/luxury-report-2021/.

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ENDNOTES
1
This case has been written on the basis of published sources. Consequently, the interpretation and perspectives presented
in this case are not necessarily those of Forest Essentials or any of its employees.
2
Ayurveda is a traditional method of healing in India that claims to provide a harmonious balance between body and soul.
3
Smita Tripathi, “Sales Up 17% Over Last Year; Looking to Expand to Middle East, US: Forest Essentials MD Samrath Bedi,”
Business Today, October 30, 2021, https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/sales-up-17-over-last-year-looking-
to-expand-to-middle-east-us-forest-essentials-md-samrath-bedi-310936-2021-10-30.
4
Varuni Khosla, “Forest Essentials to Open 12 Stores in UK,” Mint, October 26, 2021,
https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/homegrown-luxury-beauty-brand-forest-essentials-to-open-12-stores-in-the-uk-
11635237820851.html.
5
Taruna Yadav, “Forest Essentials Was Ranked 73rd amidst India’s Fastest Growing Companies,” Forest Essentials, May 7,
2020, https://www.forestessentialsindia.com/blog/forest-essentials-was-ranked-73rd-amidst-indias-fastest-growing-
companies-in-2020-by-the-economic-times.html.
6
Coty, “Coty Adds Ultra Premium Skincare Brand Orveda to Prestige Portfolio,” press release, November 18, 2021,
https://www.coty.com/in-the-news/press-release/coty-adds-ultra-premium-skincare-brand-orveda-prestige-portfolio; “The
Purpose-Led Prestige Beauty Business Powering our Global Growth,” Unilever, December 7, 2021,
https://www.unilever.com/news/news-search/2021/the-purposeled-prestige-beauty-business-powering-our-global-growth/;
Anne Steinemann, “International Prevalence of Fragrance Sensitivity,” Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health 12 (2019): 891–
897, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-019-00699-4.
7
McKinsey & Company, “Meet Generation Z: Shaping the Future of Shopping,” August 2020,
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/meet-generation-z-shaping-the-future-of-
shopping.
8
Arushi Sinha, “Mira Kulkarni of Forest Essentials Talks to Vogue about [sic] the Origins of the Company and Her Relationship
with Ayurveda,” Vogue, March 12, 2022, https://www.vogue.in/beauty/content/founder-of-forest-essentials-mira-kulkarni-talks-
to-vogue-about-about-the-origins-of-the-company-and-her-relationship-with-ayurveda.
9
Neha Dhawan, “Deep Rooted Beauty: Mira Kulkarni MD, Forest Essentials, “The Economic Times, August 22, 2010,
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/life-style/deep-rooted-beauty-mira-kulkarni-md-forest-
essentials/articleshow/6389775.cms.
10
“Mira Kulkarni Built Forest Essentials to Use Natural Ingredients,” Femina, August 12, 2021,
https://www.femina.in/trending/achievers/mira-kulkarni-built-forest-essentials-to-use-natural-ingredients-200296.html.
11
₹ = INR = Indian rupee; US$1 = ₹74.87 on December 1, 2021.
12
Nanditta Chibber, “How Forest Essentials Was Born, and Grew,” Business Standard, June 14, 2013, https://www.business-
standard.com/article/beyond-business/how-forest-essentials-was-born-and-grew-106060101054_1.html.
13
Ishita Sengupta, “Meet Mira Kulkarni, the Woman Who Founded Forest Essentials and Combined Ayurveda with Luxury,”
Vagabomb, April 4, 2017, https://www.vagabomb.com/Meet-the-Founder-of-the-Forest-Essentials-and-the-Woman-Who-
Made-Ayurvedic-Products-Accessible/.
14
Yukti Agarwal, “The Brand Story of Forest Essentials,” Luxury Abode, July 13, 2020, https://www.luxuryabode.com/blog/the-
brand-story-of-forest-essentials/artid287.
15
Chibber, “How Forest Essentials Was Born, and Grew.”
16
Arnika Thakur, “Making Forest Essentials Bigger and Brighter,” Fortune India, June 15, 2019,
https://www.fortuneindia.com/enterprise/making-forest-essentials-bigger-and-brighter/103301.
17
Agarwal, “The Brand Story of Forest Essentials.”
18
Dhawan, “Deep Rooted Beauty.”
19
Thakur, “Making Forest Essentials Bigger and Brighter.”
20
Agarwal, “The Brand Story of Forest Essentials.”
21
Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region in the Indian subcontinent; Madurai is a major city in the southern Indian
state of Tamil Nadu; Kannauj is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh; Ooty is a resort town in Tamil Nadu; Mysuru
is a city in India’s southwestern Karnataka state.
22
Thakur, “Making Forest Essentials Bigger and Brighter.”
23
“Forest Essentials—Delivering Ayurveda Beauty Products on a Golden Platter,” Ayurveda, June 15, 2019,
https://www.Ayurvedamagazine.org/Ayurveda/articledetail/459/Forest-Essentials-delivering-Ayurveda-beauty-care-products-
on-a-golden-platter.
24
The official residence of the President of India.
25
Pavan Lall, “Estée Lauder’s Dream Girl,” Fortune, November 25, 2014, https://www.readwhere.com/read/381421/Fortune-
India/Fortune-India-November-Issue#dual/106/1.
26
Chibber, “How Forest Essentials Was Born, and Grew.”
27
Arun Janardhan, “Forest Essentials: The Fragrance of Global Domination,” The Voice of Fashion, December 21, 2021,
https://thevoiceoffashion.com/centrestage/features/Forest-Essentials-The-Fragrance-of-Global-Domination--4796.
28
Agarwal, “The Brand Story of Forest Essentials.”
29
Lall, “Estée Lauder’s Dream Girl.”

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30
Suvi Dogra, “Estee Lauder Buys Minority Stake in Forest Essentials,” Business Standard, January 29, 2013,
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/estee-lauder-buys-minority-stake-in-forest-essentials-
108071901021_1.html.
31
Priyanka Bhattacharya, “India Quarterly: Indian Beauty Market Roundup,” Global Cosmetic Industry, February 2, 2009,
https://www.gcimagazine.com/consumers-markets/article/21848110/india-quarterly-indian-beauty-market-roundup.
32
Lall, “Estée Lauder’s Dream Girl.”
33
Thakur, “Making Forest Essentials Bigger and Brighter.”
34
Expert Market Research, “India Beauty and Personal Care Market Outlook,” accessed December 21, 2021,
https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/india-beauty-and-personal-care-market.
35
Sanyukta Kanwal, “Market Value of Ayurveda Industry in India in 2019, with a Projection for 2025,” Statista, July 26, 2021,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1252538/india-Ayurveda-industry-market-value/.
36
“Evolution of Ayurveda in India and Beyond,” Euromonitor, November 2019, https://www.euromonitor.com/evolution-of-
Ayurveda-in-india-and-beyond/report.
37
“Evolution of Ayurveda in India and Beyond.”
38
Amanda Lim, “‘Luxury Ayurveda Beauty’: Forest Essentials Sets Sights on Becoming ‘Global Leader’ as Interest Rockets,”
CosmeticsDesign-Asia, August 12, 2020, https://www.cosmeticsdesign-asia.com/Article/2020/08/12/Ayurveda-beauty-brand-
Forest-Essentials-sets-sight-on-becoming-global-leader-as-interest-rockets.
39
Shraddha Varma, “Staying Modern for Millennials and Gen Z: This is the Forest Essentials Story,” Zeezest, November 28,
2021, https://zeezest.com/style-beauty/in-conversation-with-samrath-bedi-of-forest-essentials-beauty-1052.
40
€ = EUR = Euro; US$1 = €0.88 on December 1, 2021.
41
Bain & Company, “Luxury Market Rebounds in 2021, Set to Return to Historic Growth Trajectory,” press release, November
11, 2021, https://www.bain.com/about/media-center/press-releases/2021/luxury-report-2021/.
42
Business Line, “Spanish Firm Puig Picks Up Stake in Kama Ayurveda; to Invest 100 Crore,” The Hindu, March 12, 2019,
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/spanish-firm-puig-picks-up-stake-in-kama-ayurveda-to-invest-100-
crore/article26514159.ece.
43
Lim, “‘Luxury Ayurveda Beauty.’”
44
Thakur, “Making Forest Essentials Bigger and Brighter.”
45
“Natural Makeup,” Forest Essentials, https://www.forestessentialsindia.com/natural-makeup.html.
46
Lim, “‘Luxury Ayurveda Beauty.’”
47
Khosla, “Forest Essentials to Open 12 Stores in UK.”
48
Janardhan, “Forest Essentials.”
49
Khosla, “Forest Essentials to Open 12 Stores in UK.”
50
Janardhan, “Forest Essentials.”
51
The case authors conducted the interviews cited in this section with female Forest Essentials customers in Mumbai, India,
between October and November 2021.
52
Forest Essentials (website), accessed August 20, 2022, https://www.forestessentialsindia.com.
53
Lall, “Estée Lauder’s Dream Girl.”
54
Amanda Lim, “India’s Demand for ‘High-End Experiences’ Driving Growth of Luxury Beauty Segment—Amorepacific,”
CosmeticsDesign-Asia, August 4, 2020, https://www.cosmeticsdesign-asia.com/Article/2020/08/04/India-s-demand-for-high-
end-experiences-driving-growth-of-luxury-beauty-segment-Amorepacific.
55
Geeta Rao, “Can India Produce a Beauty Luxury Label?” Mint, March 23, 2016,
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/zAfH8zvg21gegk1zY2KOHI/Can-India-produce-a-luxury-beauty-label.html.
56
Saumyaa Vohra, “20 Homegrown Skincare Brands to Have on Your Radar,” GQ, August 20, 2021,
https://www.gqindia.com/look-good/content/20-homegrown-skincare-brands-to-have-on-your-radar.
57
Unilever, “The Purpose-Led Prestige Beauty Business”; Coty, “Coty Adds Ultra Premium Skincare Brand”; Benjamin Fitzgerald,
“P&G Acquires Prestige Skincare Brand Tula,” Fashion Network, January 7, 2022, https://in.fashionnetwork.com/news/P-g-
acquires-prestige-skincare-brand-tula,1366408.html.
58
“Prestige Skincare: India,” Statista, updated March 2022, accessed April 6, 2022,
https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/luxury-goods/prestige-cosmetics-fragrances/prestige-skin-care/india.
59
“EY Entrepreneur of The Year Finalists 2020: Mira Kulkarni & Samrath Bedi—Mountain Valley Springs India (Forest
Essentials),” EY, accessed August 20, 2022, https://www.ey.com/en_in/entrepreneur-of-the-year/finalists-2020/mira-kulkarni-
and-samarth-bedi.

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