Archive: December 28, 2022

A year that was and a year that will be – Nat Habit

By Swagatika Das, Founder Nat Habit,

Another year just whizzed past us, and how! Juggling between moments of celebrations, moments of stress, and moments of ‘what went right’ & ‘what went wrong’, we halted at many milestones over the year, and touched lakhs of people! Building a brand is tough, and building an organisation is tougher. But with an exceptional team that believes in my vision, we have managed to get this far. I cannot express my gratitude enough to both my fellow Natizens and my customers for bringing Nat Habit to this stage.

Here is a quick flashback of what we did in 2022:

1. The Year began with a flurry of excitement and activity with us raising our Series A funding of $4 Million led by one of the leading early-stage investment platforms Fireside Ventures, who are known in the market for growing many loved consumer brands such as MamaEarth, boAt, Vadham India, Kapiva, Slurp, Slay, Pilgrim, Gynoveda, etc. No Business can stand on its feet without some initial capital. But more than the capital, what our investors brought with them to the table is their guidance and their expertise in the D2C industry.
2. We owe our biggest achievement to our customers – the growth in our customer base. The fact that we started the year with 2.5 Lac customers and ended up with more than 8 Lac customers is a testimony to how we are being accepted and loved.
3. Over the last year, we saw growth through two avenues – expanding our channels of sales and expanding our product ranges. We started the year with a minimal presence on Marketplace, and in a year we have expanded from being not only on our own website but also be available in 12+ marketplace platforms such as Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, Jio, FirstCry, Myntra, etc. Today more people know us because of these Marketplaces.
4. To offer our customers a wider range of 100% Natural, Ayurvedic and Freshmade products, we launched two ranges of face products – Both the Freshly Whipped Face Malais and 100% Pure Aloe Gel range went on to become very popular.
5. We also launched two ranges of limited edition festive products – 100% Natuaal Holi Gulaal made from natural ingredients, and Recyclable Candles during Diwali made from unused or waste oils and butter. Both these products had a very short product development cycle which was a feat in itself.
6. Another feather that we added over the last year was the addition of new variants to our existing product ranges. This needs to be called out, especially because we spoke with our customers, heard them, took their feedback, and then worked on developing the new variants: We launched a new lighter variant of hair oil: Olive almond Vit E Hair oil, two new variants in our freshly whipped skin Malai Range, and four new variants in our Fresh Whipped All Day Face Malai that targets specific concerns.
7. We also forayed into the new category of Baby care with products like Baby Ubtan, Baby oils, and Baby Kusha Powder.
8. We have been trying to make it a habit to listen to our customers. One big insight we acted upon was our customers’ feedback on shorter delivery timelines – we opened more dispatch centers in India to reduce delivery timelines. We also made ourselves available on models of business on marketplaces that provided short delivery timelines.
9. Finally, this list cannot end without the mention of the growth of our team – we grew from a 50-member team to a 150-member corporate plus manufacturing team.

With changing times, and ever-evolving consumer requirements, it is imperative that we continue to adapt and put our best foot forward. In the year 2023, Nat Habit will continue to focus on Innovation – whether it is innovation in our products that we bring to you, innovation in processes and technology that will help us deliver ourselves better, or innovation in our messaging & communications.

We promise to touch 30 Lac households by FY23 and are even planning to enter the offline retail space as well. With respect to our product portfolio, we will expand our ranges by introducing 15 new innovative & fresh products.

With all these dreams in our eyes, and continued dedication, looking forward to setting new milestones through our joined efforts in the upcoming year.

Freedom Rice Bran Oil promotes a healthy lifestyle

Hyderabad: 28th December 2022: Freedom Rice Bran Oil in association with the 10K Run Foundation organized the 18th edition of Freedom 10K Run to encourage people to lead a healthy lifestyle. The Freedom 10K Run is considered to be amongst the oldest runs in the country. The run was organized into 3 categories: Elite for professionals, 10K for serious runners, and 5K run for beginners. This edition of the Freedom 10K run was a grand success with over 5000 runners participating and finishing the run. The participants were encouraged to improve their fitness levels by stepping up their exercise over the last month, to prepare for the Freedom 10K run and complete it, thereby making exercise a part of their routine.

The secret to good health is to eat healthy food cooked in a healthy oil with a balanced profile and lead a healthy lifestyle with regular walks and exercise as a part of the regime. Rice bran oil is known for its high levels of bioactive phytochemicals, such as oryzanol, tocopherols, and sterols. Freedom physically refined Rice bran oil is extracted using a novel physical refining process. The process helps retain 4 times more micronutrients like 10000+ ppm of Oryzanol per 100 mg in the end product. Therefore, Freedom Physically refined rice bran oil has the ‘O’ factor that helps reduce cholesterol and helps you to ‘Eat Healthy and Live Healthy’. Moreover, Rice bran oil is one of the healthiest choices available in cooking oils ideal for Indian cooking due to its high smoking point.

According to experts, if people maintain a healthy lifestyle, eat right, drink at least 2 liters of water every day, avoid bad habits like smoking, regularly monitor and control diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and Cholesterol levels and choose a healthy oil like Rice Bran Oil, they are likely to stay healthy and safe.

Speaking about the Freedom 10K Run Mr. P. Chandra Shekhara Reddy, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, at Freedom Rice Bran Oil, “Freedom Rice Bran Oil is proud and happy to see such an overwhelming response to this edition of Freedom 10K run. It feels greattttt!!! to associate with sporting events that encourage health, fitness, and an active & healthy lifestyle in the people of our country. Freedom 10K Run provided a much-needed platform for runners of all levels and the rest of India. We congratulate all the winners and thank all the participants, especially the first-time participants who practiced a disciplined, active lifestyle and prepared for the run and complete it.”

Launch of ‘N.ROBE’

.. A fashion ecommerce platform offering premium clothing for women

New Delhi, Wednesday, December 28, 2022:N.ROBE is one of India’s best-known online fashion stores born in the fall of 2022. It started with the mission of promoting and showcasing great weaves, crafts, and clothing designs from all over India.

N.ROBE brings together the old-world iconic Indian charm with elegant contemporary designs. The brand is positioned to serve everyone who has a keen eye for fashion and expression across the globe. N.ROBE is focused on preserving the craft and honor of native artisans. The collections aim to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity with an ideology to showcase the stories of skilled Indian artisans and their craftsmanship.

The brand celebrates the royal Indian heritage- traditional patterns, vibrant colours, surface texturing and nostalgia so much so that each N.ROBE collection is curated to be a piece of authentic Indian heritage that you can proudly make your own.

The team hand-picks trending outfits, especially for you from some of the finest labels in the fashion industry that make in India and follow ethical and sustainable fashion practices. N.ROBE has collections by established as well as newly launched, upcoming brands promising excellent quality of fabric, colors, weaves, and crafts. From ethnic to casual, western to traditional, the collections are contemporary, modern, and festive bringing you the best styles from the market.

Website Link: www.nrobe.in

Adbuffs organized a premiere league to raise awareness about the workplace wellness

December 28: Adbuffs, a renowned performance marketing brand, has recently organized a Cricket Premiere League as a proactive and engaging activity. The premier league was played at Axis Mall Rooftop on 17th December 2022 to convey the message of workplace wellness.

The “Adbuffs Premiere League’’ allowed employees an opportunity to display their sense of solidarity and to highlight the importance of such activities for maintaining a healthy work environment. Six teams each had their own prominent colour that competed in the league. The teams that participated in the league were Team buff force (maroon), Cric buffs (red & blue), Team titans (grey), Sentinels (black), All stars (blue), and last but not least Rudra Warriors (white). Ultimately, the last squad standing, Rudra Warriors, not only succeeded but also showed its teammates they were a worthy opponent.

On the success of Adbuffs Premiere League; Mr. Abhishek Maity the Co-founder of Adbuffs commented. As a former job holder, I can attest that the pressure of work life can get to you, and it is salient to maintain stress in order to be productive. The “Adbuffs Premiere League” provided us with a space to release our pent-up stress, and in my opinion, there is no greater activity than a cricket match. Also, the league wasn’t a mere competition but an enthralling experience for the whole Adbuffs crew, and the winning team ‘Rudra Warriors’ won our hearts with their satisfactory performance.

Commenting on the premiere league success, Mr. Ramasish Bhowmik, the Co-Founder and Director of ‘Adbuffs’ said The sole reason we organized a cricket match is to raise awareness that workplaces should incorporate proactive regimes in order to maintain the mental well-being of the employees. We hope to host such activities in the future and continue to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy workforce.

Inclusiveness rating tool wins UNFPA India hackathon: Global youth innovators crack the code on gender based violence

New Delhi, 28th December 2022: Thirty-four-year-old Prachi Mittal from Team Network beat 8,500 ideators to win the UNFPA India ‘Hackathon: Crack the Code to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (GBV)’. An automotive engineer by profession, she developed an inclusiveness rating tool for assessing access for marginalized communities, including persons with disabilities. The tool has immense potential to scale and can be adopted by a range of stakeholders to map inclusive and accessible right-based services, including services to respond to GBV. Other winners included Team Stemlabs Nigeria, who developed a low-tech tool for reporting and managing GBV cases and linking survivors to appropriate services; and Aindriya Barua from Team Aari who developed a bot to detect hate speech online.

Gender-based violence is everywhere, and, in today’s digital age across online platforms as well. The negative impact of gender-based violence is felt more during crises. This gets further compounded for persons living with disability, LGBTQIA+, and minorities among others.

Ending all forms of gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls is a core mission of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA India, in association with India’s biggest technology community, TechGig, launched the Hackathon: Crack the Code to Prevent and Address GBV in September this year. It invited diverse stakeholders to share their ideas and solutions. The participants submitted ideas that have the potential to solve three key challenges:

1. Improving GBV prevention and response for persons with disabilities;
2. Addressing technology facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) and;
3. Strengthening GBV services and support systems during humanitarian crises

This hackathon progressed in three stages: first – idea submissions, second – shortlisting and prototype submissions, and third – final presentations with the announcement of winners. More than 8,500 participants registered for the hackathon and around 250 ideas were submitted from 20 countries. Post evaluation by UNFPA along with their knowledge partners United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) India, Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, Centre for Inclusive Policy, Centre for Internet and Society, ADRA, Rising Flames, Sama Resource Group, Bedrock and Amazon Web Services (AWS) on parameters of novelty, scalability, impact, and diversity, only seven teams made it to the final round.

Seven finalists – Network, Stemlabs Nigeria, Aari, Social Animals, Aurovi, EVOL, and Czeyon – presented their solutions and working prototypes to the jury in December 2022. Winners were announced in an online grand finale event hosted at the TechGig Facebook and YouTube pages. The hackathon created a buzz with the #EndGBVforAll hashtag across webinars, videos and articles, and social media platforms.

One winner and two runners-up were declared during the event. The winner took home INR 1.5 Lakh as the prize amount while the first and second runners-up received INR 1 Lakh and INR 50,000 respectively.

Speaking at the event, Andrea M Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative and Country Director Bhutan, said “We at UNFPA recognise that innovation is essential to deliver at scale and to achieve the pace needed to realize gender equality, equity, and reproductive autonomy. Innovation and digitalization, is, without a doubt, one of the megatrends that generate explicit benefits for societies and economies, and one that should not be stopped or obstructed, but instead leveraged to maximize positive impact and minimize any adverse ones.”

Congratulating the winners, Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TechGig said, “We take pride in hosting initiatives such as the UNFPA hackathon where the solutions have the potential to directly impact the society and aid the GBV survivors in accessing resources and right-based services. This is the best use case of technology and its fusion with social issues that resonate with the ethos of TechGig to make technology accessible to all. Congratulations to all winners!”

Expressing her happiness at winning the top laurel event, Prachi Mittal said, “I have been working as an engineer and researcher for more than a decade but this is the first time that I feel my work will make a difference to the society at large. I’m excited to build this at a bigger scale, which wouldn’t have been possible without this opportunity given by UNFPA.”

2023: The year travel revival is complete in India to regain the pre-pandemic levels of 2019

“The Indian traveler has shown unprecedented zeal through 2022 to make up for the lost travel opportunities during the pandemic lockdowns. This “revenge travel” led spike in travel of 2022 will become the yearly routine in 2023 and beyond, continuing the growth trajectory next year. As people’s memories are alive with the recreational and wellness benefits of their 2022 trips, something they are eager to repeat every year to get a reprieve from their hectic and stressful daily routines. “We will see demand for nature retreats, wellness tourism, and spiritual travel further increase in 2023, driving growth in domestic tourism in India,” said Ashish Sidhra, Co-founder of Alike.io.

“With pandemic-led international travel uncertainties subsiding during the second half of 2022, the Indian traveler will seek novel international locations in 2023 to add to their trip plans. In this segment, the Indian Millennial traveler is no longer happy with cookie-cutter trips and wants a personalised trip plan driven by peer recommendations. 2023 will see this urge for personalised social travel becoming an even bigger phenomenon.” he added to his comments.

“However, one of the most important Indian travel trends of 2023 will be the increased influx of foreign tourist guests to India. Foreign arrivals by July 2022 were already at 79% of 2019 levels and will surpass these historical highs next year. With India taking over the G20 Presidency, the recall of brand India will grow many folds in top global source markets, driving increased international guest visits to India. The Government of India is aiming to bank on this trend and has finalised “Incredible India! Visit India Year 2023” as its marketing tagline”, asserted Ashish.