In these difficult times when the Pandemic is striking every sector badly, people are comprehending the necessity for a healthy lifestyle. Now, people are thinking about the well-being of their bodies and proportional nutrition. After elongated delinquency, fortunately, proper and proportional nutrition for women also emerges as an issue of concern today. We had an exclusive interaction with Shilpa Khanna Thakkar, CEO of women beauty and health nutrition brand Chicnutrix about the shifting market scenario.
Here are the excerpts:
Q: What sparked your interest in the industry?
Shilpa: Being a woman, I have faced a lot of issues myself. Different concerns have been a part of different stages in life where recently, I had hair fall issues. That’s what kind of intrigued me that when I went to the dermatologist. I realized that one of the key things that come into taking care of these aspects is also right nutrition. So when it comes to our routine, our lives are quite busy today. We want to be a mother, we want to be a good house maker, and we also want to achieve our ambitions in different phases of time. We want to do everything but we have a time constraint and in that, we tend to ignore ourselves as women. Now I think that the realization has come that one should not ignore themselves amid the diverse roles they are playing throughout the walk of life because then that causes a lot of issues later. And eating the right nutrition sometimes is a challenge in our lives and putting it in an easy format that is on the go nutrition will be something very beneficial for the woman. With our focus being women, we touch every phase of a woman’s life and provide the right nutrition for different concerns. Chicnutrix is your nutrition BFF- that’s the whole idea with which we created Chicnutrix. As women, we understand women better. It’s a brand for and by women.
Q. How would you explain the brand aesthetics of Chicnutrix?
Shilpa: As our tagline says, “We are your nutrition BFF”. The essence of the brand is, if someone thinks about a brand that understands women and caters to their requirements in every phase of life, Chicnutrix has got its back.
Q. How has the pandemic impacted Chicnutrix? What changes did you make to the business in this pandemic?
Shilpa: The pandemic has created more awareness about one’s health, that health is everything and nothing comes ahead of that. And that realization has kicked in more during the pandemic. Maybe it was at the back of their mind, but people did not see or act upon it. But during the pandemic, people started acting upon it and taking it as a way of life. And that’s when we also adapted to the whole situation and we started coming up with our wellness range of products and we explored areas like UTI and PCOS. We recently launched Calciolive, made with Swiss Effervescent Technology and formulated with clinically proven Bonolive Olive leaf extract, Calcium and Vegan Vitamin D3, a alanced formulation that provides complete bone care and ensures optimum bone health. Women have very specific needs. So we have to understand that what a woman faces now. For instance, during breastfeeding or even pre-menopause and menopause, a woman loses bone cells. They do not just need calcium and D3 but also an ingredient that can build their bone cells. And that can be done by nutrition. Skin disorders were on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic due to infection and mask use. Hair fall is a constant issue. We have heard back from so many people including renowned doctors on how our flagship products like Chicnutrix Bounce and Chicnutrix SuperC have helped them during and post their COVID journey.
Q. As the CEO of Chicnutrix where do you think is the nutritional supplement market heading? What is the USP of your brand?
Shilpa: A few years back, the personal care industry was all about skincare and hair. Today, we see it evolve into a big market. People have realized that one has to take care of themselves. So, of course, we are a brand for women by women, we understand women better and what is the requirement of India. And second, from a product point of view, the USP is that all our products are science-backed. All our products have ingredients that have clinical studies on them, and also a lot of R&D and research goes before we come up with any product. Also, we ensure it’s an easy form of nutrition that people can follow as a part of their daily routine.
Q. E-commerce has altered the marketing structure and strategies. How much of your sales are coming from E-commerce?
Shilpa: 95 per cent of our sales come through e-commerce. It is very industry-specific and not brand specific. We are not a very heavily discounted product, the sales come through the basis of the products we offer.
Q. What is the current market size of nutrition supplements? How much growth are you seeing in the coming years?
Shilpa: According to a study published by the WHO in March 2020, eating a healthy diet for maintaining a strong immune system is a vital approach to fast recovery from several viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 infection. As published by Grand View Research, the global nutritional supplements market size was valued at USD 310.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2 per cent from 2021 to 2028.
Q. How much revenue are you anticipating from the next fiscal? How much upswing are you perceiving?
Shilpa: Last year, we did 3X business and we plan to continue with the momentum.
Q. Do you have any investment strategies in the coming years?
Shilpa: All our investment strategies are taken care of at the parent company i.e. Fullife Healthcare Private Limited.
Q. What is your planning to penetrate further in the global market?
Shilpa: Since there is a demand, we are already supplying from India to the US, Canada, Singapore, UK, Dubai and Nigeria. We will continue testing waters and pick up a few important geographies where we think we can start putting up but idea is to expand globally.
Q. What are the next growth frontiers for Chicnutrix?
Shilpa: We are building a strong woman community and we recently got Masaba Gupta on board. Because for us, all our products are focused on a woman and building that community across diversifications is what we will be looking at.