Adopting a pet today is like a step towards nesting. It requires the same attention and care that it would bring if they embraced parenting – the best of health care, food and medicines approved by veterinarians and quality care and bathing products for your four-legged family members.
While most pet owners keep food and medicine in mind, what they tend to overlook is the part of the cure. Ask any vet the question, and they’ll tell you horror stories of people using the same shampoo on their pets who would use themselves. The truth is, it’s not all the same. Since animals (and even plants) are also sensitive to pH baby shampoos may turn out to be acidic for your dog’s skin.
These and many other aspects where ignorance could lead to drastic health issues dictate the need for complete pet care – a concern that Petveda based on gurugram is facing head on. The startup, founded in 2014 and started in 2019, it combines the goodness of Ayurveda with modern sciences offer a range of organic products for the care and care of pets.
Dhruv Kumar, co-founder of Petveda
“All Petveda products are pH balanced and use natural preservatives approved by US and EU standards,” says Dhruv and Kamakshi Kumar, the husband-wife couple behind the brand. “We do not use parabens, DMDM Hydantoin or any other ingredient that we believe may cause harm to the animal or the environment.”
A brand born out of pure love
In 2010, Dhruv and Kamakshi founded Terrai natural products, a company specialized in natural products for body and bath care. In 2014, the duo decided to expand their horizon and moved into the production of quality animal care products, based on the ancient science and knowledge of Ayurveda.
This was the starting from Petveda, a brand that is the culmination of Dhruv’s well-designed and well-defined vision. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs – his father, The late Anil Khanna started an Ayurvedic line for skin and hair care, called Herbline in 1978, which to date produces at their factory in Bhimtal – Dhruv was no stranger to business ideals. And he also knew well the healing properties of Ayurvedic herbs.
So venturing into the domain of Ayurvedic organic products for pets was a breeze.
“Petveda, the name speaks for itself,” says Dhruv. “It defines the idea behind the line, which is a fusion of pet care and Ayurvedic infused goodness.”
“We also avoided the use of aggressive chemicals and artificial fragrances,” adds Kamakshi, “Instead, we use blends of essential oils which, in addition to providing fragrance to the products, also incorporate the benefits of aromatherapy.”
Kamakshi, with whom he worked KLM airlines for four years and Mizuho Corporate Bank for nine years, was involved in the domestic startup in 2017. Coming from a corporate background, she takes advantage of her experience for marketing and promoting the brand at Petveda.
Kamakshi Kumar, co-founder of Petveda
One step ahead of the competition
A report of Euromonitor International, a market research firm, aims the Indian pet care market at around $ 347 million. Driven by urbanization and an increasingly humanizing attitude towards pets, the report also predicts a 17 percent growth for this sector until 2024.
At the moment, pet ownership has given way to parenting of pets. With this change of approach, the needs and nature of this sector have also taken a different path, making space for businesses and startups with a business model that deals with the health and well-being of pets.
Of course, Petveda, which manufactures a range of personal care products, including antibacterial shampoo, strengthening shampoo, repellent shampoo for ticks and fleas, anti-dandruff hair spray, tear remover, spray for the control of tartar and nourishing conditioner with vitamins A and E, enjoys a favorable position in the sector.
“Unlike most of the brands available on the market, we manufacture our products and therefore have complete control over the quality of the products,” says the founding duo.
Petveda also claims to be the first Indian brand to present a line of products for natural grooming without sulphates and parabens. Using their many years of experience in the field of Ayurvedic products, the entrepreneurial duo behind the brand has further modified Petveda to meet the current needs of the pet care market.
The duo says, “This experience has given us an advantage and we are ahead of the curve in terms of product knowledge and new product development”.
Footprints extended to the international coasts
Started with Rs 3 crore, Petveda is currently operating across India. The brand retails its products through its website and it is also available on popular e-commerce sites like Flipkart and Amazon.
“Our customer base is around 4,000 with repeat orders of 30-40 percent,” explain the founders, adding that the brand is currently growing by 25 to 30 percent on a monthly basis. “Our target audience is people who treat pets like their children and think about their well-being.”
As a specialist in organic and natural products for personal care and pet care, one of the main concerns for starting, unsurprisingly, are quality products that meet international standards. But while maintaining the standard of the products themselves, the founding team also places particular emphasis on the packaging of their goods and maintains it completely recyclable, bearing in mind the need to reduce packaging waste and environmental costs.
All this keeping in mind price sensitivity. As the duo says, “Petveda products have a premium price, probably higher than any other Indian brand and yet the Indian consumer is happily accepting the brand”.
Their plan to move forward is to expand their footprint into more recent geographic areas, which is why the startup would soon be looking for investors and mentoring partners.
“We are listing the products on the US market and we are discussing with chewy.com internationally and in Mumbai and Bangalore nationally,” says the founding duo adding: “Soon, we intend to have international brands such as Burt’s Api and Tropiclean as competitors. “
(By Suman Singh)
.