How Surya Brasil is Transforming the Organic Personal Care Sector
How Surya Brasil is Transforming the Organic Personal Care Sector

Nowadays, people are turning towards Ayurvedic, herbal, and organic products that do not harm their skin even after long-term use. No one wants beauty at the cost of their health and with the growing awareness of the extensive use of chemicals in skin care products, consumers are aggressively shifting towards natural and organic products. Today’s consumers understand how adulterated and heavy chemical toxins are used in most of the daily skincare and beauty products that damage the skin to a great extent.

Consumers prefer organic personal care products free from chemicals and transparent about the content. Growing celebrity involvement in the promotion of organic products resonates well with young consumers. Millennials who spend a lot of time on the internet have a high inclination towards trending online articles, product launches, and celebrity endorsements, which is likely to drive the demand for this segment.

The Indian Organic Personal Care Products Market is expected to grow from $571.43 million in FY2020 to $1,239.04 million in FY2026 growing with a CAGR of 14.69 percent by FY2026, as per Businesswire’s report.

To capture a pie of this growing market, the global brand Surya Brasil was introduced in India in August 2021 by Cecilia Angelon to offer chemical-free and organic solutions to Indian consumers. The brand offers vegan and cruelty-free personal care solutions made of Ayurvedic herbs, vegetal extracts from Amazonian rainforests, and zero harsh chemicals.

Cecilia Angelon, Founder, and CEO, Surya Brasil, shared, “It was my learning about Surya - the God of Light - that the brand was named Surya Brasil. Soon after our launch almost three decades ago, we were selling in two major pharmacy chains in Brazil and two years later we entered the US market through chains such as Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Natural Sources, and The Vitamin Shoppe. Though it was more of a personal mission initially, rather than a profit-making entity, today we are flourishing as a business. We expanded our global journey in markets like Japan, Europe, and South America, and today we are available in more than 40 countries. We became the natural and organic alternative for people who wanted to color or nurture their greys. As a direct-to-consumer brand, we reached our users efficiently. We finally brought Surya Brasil to India in August 2021. And in the last year, we have seen phenomenal growth as the consumers have accepted our products especially because they are vegan, organic, and natural.

The brand follows the principles of veganism and is based on the fact that nature has the answers to all our problems. Ayurveda, the oldest healing system works on the root cause, and not just treating the symptoms. That is why it becomes the best alternative for personal care as chemical-laden products lead to reactions and harm the skin and hair. It is precisely why the products are void of harmful chemicals such as PPD, EDTA, GMOs, Gluten, Ammonia, and its by-products such as Ethalonamina, Diethalonamina, and Triethalonamina. Ayurvedic herbs along with Jaborandi, Copaíba, Guarana, Cumaru, Açaí, and Powder Oils of Olive and Coconut, extracted from Amazonian rainforests are used to make the product of Surya Brasil.

Surya Brasil offers a wide range of products in India like Henna cream hair, color fixation shampoo, conditioner, and mask, for those who love to flaunt their fashionable hair, along with Ecosilver line for people who love their greys and need to tone the yellows. World-over, we also have a skincare range that consists of dermo-cosmetics, vegan and organic products, which have the power of exotic organic Brazilian herbs. In the past 27 years, we have reached out to more than 40 countries including the USA, the UK, Europe, Japan, South America, and India. Our personal care segment is appreciated by people across all continents and with the rising awareness about the harm of chemical-based products there is a shift towards natural, organic, and vegan products and we intend to reach out to even more consumers,” Angelon said.

Though we have a range of skincare products too, we have launched our haircare range first in the Indian market, especially because consumers here love to experiment with hair color and they definitely need an alternative to harsh chemical-laden dyes. The haircare range includes high-performance henna cream and color fixation shampoo and conditioner. Given the hair type of Indians, we are working on a customized product offering attuned to the Indian climatic and relevant conditions. The custom offering is going to come in new packaging and will offer longer color increasing the wash cycle by multiple folds,” she further added.

Retail Strategy

In 2006 Surya Brasil became a 100 percent vegan brand that does not use any animal product and produces cruelty-free products by not testing them on animals. And being vegan forms the foremost fundamental of the brand.

 

Elaborating on the retail strategy, Angelon said, “We wish to make the products accessible to consumers across India. That is why we are selling our products through leading online portals, with Beverly Hills Sales Pvt Ltd as our distribution partner. Surya Brasil products are also available at major offline platforms, thereby creating a space amongst the plethora of products available in the Indian market. The pricing of our products starts from Rs 699 onwards.

Technical Innovations

The brand uses nature, Ayurveda, and technology to make products that benefit the hair immediately as well as in the long run. These three forms the basis of the brand’s business model as well as a core belief in the process.

Surya Brasil has brought in many new innovations to stand tall among the competitors in the Indian market. We have introduced Henna cream, which is a ready-to-use product that saves time and effort for the user. It comes with an easy-to-apply applicator which means you can use this product without messing your hands. We have also introduced the Ecosilver range that tones down the yellowish tinge of grey hair, which is an innovative product in itself. But we intend to reach out to our consumers based on our USP of being natural, organic, and vegan,” she said.

Expansion Plans

 

Surya Brasil is trying to build the trust of its consumers and ensure that the philosophy of moving towards organic products is spread across all segments. Through the strategized marketing plans, the brand intends to reach to consumers sitting in the remotest parts of the country.

As compared to other multinational brands with a presence across different major global markets, Surya Brasil is relatively new to India. Even though our roots have strong Indian influences, our foray into the market happened a little less than a year ago and till this point, we have focused on making our existing haircare portfolio available through major online channels like Amazon to consumers who seek personal well-being. While we have already created a fair brand recall value among Indian consumers organically, we have a major announcement with regard to our product portfolio in India, and an announcement in that regard would be made at an appropriate time very shortly. A plan is afoot to expand its footprint in India with noteworthy investments. We are targeting communities and cities where we see a general trend of consumers being more accepting towards this philosophy,” she said.

We are still at a very nascent stage when it comes to the Indian market, but we are expecting a 15-20 percent growth in our overall revenue. The figures have been very encouraging so far,” she concluded.

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