"We Currently Sell in over 400+ Retail Locations": Avnish Chhabra

In an exclusive interview with Avnish Chhabra, Founder, Wellbeing Nutrition sheds light on how booming wellness inspires him to launch Wellbeing Nutrition.

What is your assessment about wellness/nutrition supplement market in India. According to you, what are the factors propelling growth in this segment?

The wellness industry in India has rapidly evolved from being a highly unstructured ecosystem in the 90s to a more active and growing sector today. With health and wellness being becoming mainstream, this industry expects a massive boom in the coming years. Recent estimates by FICCI and EY suggest that the industry will grow at a CAGR of nearly 12% for the next 5 years, and reach an estimated high of Rs 1.5 trillion by 2020. Rise in disposable incomes and increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases are some factors driving this growth.

Wellness refers to complete well-being that goes beyond any disease-free neutral point - in body, mind, and spirit. India is known as the land of Ayurveda, yoga, and alternative medicines, branches that have evolved through the years. However, they aren't accustomed to giving much credence to wellness. We have had a tendency towards sick-care and treatment versus preventive care and maintenance of overall well-being. Some part of this is driven by the fact that the health insurance policies do not target wellness but hospitalization and treatment. Over the last few years, there has been a paradigm shift in this trend, spurred by youngsters in their 20s and 30s becoming more conscious. They not only want to look good but feel good too, and this has led to a focus on eating, working and living healthy. Everything from diet, weight, physical activities, and sleep can now be tracked and tuned. The result? An influx of gyms, fitness apps, and other such technologies to help achieve these fitness goals.All of the above coupled with conscious eating and the intent to chose the right nutrition/nutrients they consume has significantly added to the grown in this market. 

What inspires you to launch Wellbeing Nutrition? Kindly also shed light on your entrepreneurial journey?

I am an Entreprenuer on the Go , a nomad at heart but a concious nutritionist with a clear focus on feeding my body better. When supplemants on the shelf couldnt do no more, I went in search of solutions. I started my research at John Hopins University to build what I belived would be the next frontier in daily nutrition. This journey took me all over the world from the green grasslands of Europe , Fertile vegetable fields of Kansa (USA),  Herb plantations of Bulgaria and fruit orchards of Maine, places I never imagined visiting. I was lucky enough to find solutions and discover the immense value of smarter nutrition. Changing my nutrition changed my health, immunity and skin. Wellbeing Nutrition was my way to help people prioritize their nutrition no matter how hectic their lives became. It’s one step on a very important journey. As an Entrepreneur I released that almost all of the vitamins / minerals / supplements on shelf were all derived from synthetic lab derived , molecular identical substances. I wanted to go back to the roots of how Nutrition was created – by simply squeezing a lemon in the lab we derived Vitamin C – hence the intent to go back to the power of nutrients that come from Organic Greens , Fruits and Veggies was our starting point and the intent was to create the purest form of Wholefood nutrition that relied on the purest of food ingredients to deliver potent clean nutrition. 

 Kindly shed light on your current distribution in the online as channels. Going forward, what are the plans to scale-up the distribution?

We currently sell in over 400+ retail locations and some Key accounts like Foodhall , Natures Basket , Noble Chemist among many others – we are scaling this distribution to over 3000 stores by the next quarter given the positive demand we have seen in our test stores. Online our website generates maximum outreach followed by Amazon ,Nykaa and Flipkart – we will continue to scale our online presence with new channels in the coming months. 

Are you a bootstrap or have raised any sorts of funds so far? 

We raised a seed round of $300,000 from a strategic investor and are currently raising a $1m round to fuel our growth and expand the range and categories. 

What is your major retailing challenges? 

Creating awareness for Wholefod nutrition has been an uphill talk in India currently as most customers are not willing to spend the premium to buy clean /pure nutrition. India’s has been a backdoor of generic pharma and the commoditisation of nutrition has been all synthetic products cheaper and more easily available to the customer. I firmly believe that customers are waking up the making smarter value purchases and are questioning everything they consumer – and this is where we fit right in – with clear certifications , research and evidence based nutrition is going to be the future of this industry. 

 Tell us about your product USP?

We started Wellbeing to be india’s first Wholefood nutrition company that relies on clean plant based ingredients to deliver general wellness. Our first product Wellbeing Nutrition Daily Greens - Organic Plant Superfood Effervescent tablets are the most convenient and delicious way to get a daily dose of Greens, Fruits Veggies and Herbs. Crafted with an Organic blend of 15+ essential and Alkalising Real Greens, straight from the farm; Spinach, Kale, Aloe Vera, Wheatgrass, Brussel Sprout, Alfalfa, Oregano, Spirulina, Chlorella, Broccoli, Ashwagandha, Moringa, Basil and potent blend of over 30+ antioxidant-rich superfoods including Blueberry, Rasberry, Cherry, Apple, Acai, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Green Tea, Carrot , Green Coffee bean and many more. Each tablet delivers 100% Daily Value of 12+ Wholefood Multi-Vitamins , Minerals and Electrolytes like Vitamin C, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, Fibre, Iron, Zinc, Sodium, Potassium,Manganese, Calcium,Vitamin D, Vitamin E and many more phythonutrients all derived from organic Greens & Fruits. Daily Greens helps to Boost immunity & metabolism, fight free radicals, Cures acidity and bloating, Boost digestive enzymes with plant probiotics, decreases inflamation, makes your skin glow , detoxes the body and aids in weight loss, protects your brain and relieves stress. All our products are Free of Gluten , Wheat , Dairy , Sugar, Preservaives , Allergens and Colours. Safe for Vegan and Diabetics.

At last,kindly highlight your growth plans?

After the success of our first product , we are ready to lunch our grandmothers daily herbal decoction that battles cold , flu , congestion and sore throat in the most delicious and efficient format – simply drop a single effervescent tablet in a cup of hot water and the southing herbal remedy Kadha is ready to consume. At Wellbeing we want to solve daily /lifestyle issues and build the purest and cleanest products to combat these concerns naturally. From Gut issues to Sleplessness to protein deficiency – we have an epidemic of lifestyle concerns with the youth and our goal is to solve all these concerns throughout plant based organic nutrition 

 

 

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