This Coimbatore startup turns unsold flowers into eco-friendly agarbatti

At first look, the well-known poo market (flower market) in Coimbatore is an explosion of color and perfume, with contemporary blooms introduced in on daily basis. But, because the day winds down, a special scene emerges: heaps of unsold flowers, nonetheless aromatic however destined for waste. To deal with this downside, Eco Petals, a startup based by two 23-year-olds, Kinjal Jain and Hardhik Sonu has made it its mission to rework these discarded flowers into one thing extra enduring: incense sticks.

Eco Petals is not only one other identify in India’s huge incense trade, which is reportedly valued at over ₹12,000 crores and largely dominated by charcoal-based merchandise. As a substitute, it stands aside with an revolutionary give attention to utilizing contemporary flowers as its main uncooked materials — in response to the founders, a primary within the nation.

“What we’re doing is exclusive within the incense market. Whereas others use recycled flowers or charcoal, we’re the primary to make incense sticks completely from contemporary flowers, straight from Coimbatore’s native flower market,” says Kinjal.

The method begins every night when Eco Petals purchases between 500 kilograms and a ton of contemporary, unsold flowers. ““We purchase the remaining flowers at a reduced charge, guaranteeing they don’t go to waste. This advantages each us and the distributors, as we are able to create incense sticks whereas they keep away from losses,” Kinjal explains. The contemporary flowers are then sorted, dried, pulverised, and blended with important oils and pure binding brokers to kind incense sticks free from dangerous chemical compounds.

The startup employs predominantly older ladies from rural areas to deal with the fragile work of plucking petals and getting ready them for manufacturing. Amongst them is Parvati paati (grandmother), a 62-year-old who toiled in a mill for a wage that hardly compensated for her bodily toll. A widow for a number of years, she has at all times strongly advocated self-reliance. “Everybody ought to be impartial,” she says.

“By offering them with a gradual revenue and a snug working setting, we’re not solely supporting the area people but in addition contributing to a extra sustainable and moral incense trade,” provides Kinjal.

Response to market gaps

Initially impressed by the work of Phool, an organization that repurposes temple flowers to scrub the Ganges, Eco Petals took a special route after researching Coimbatore’s flower market. “We realised the actual downside was the wastage of contemporary flowers out there. Our goal prospects, primarily ladies and older individuals who carry out day by day pujas, most well-liked contemporary flowers as choices to God,” says Kinjal.

This perception led them to give attention to contemporary flowers slightly than recycled ones, aligning their product with the cultural values of their customers.

The incense sticks, Kinjal guarantees, are eco-friendly and more healthy. Conventional incense usually incorporates charcoal, which may launch dangerous chemical compounds when burned. In distinction, Eco Petals’ product, free from charcoal, is marketed as a cleaner various, providing a extra pure perfume from 4 scents: rose, marigold, jasmine, and lavender.

Parvati, 62, working on the Eco Petals manufacturing unit in Kanuvai, Coimbatore
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Particular Association

The founders acknowledge that producing incense from contemporary flowers is extra labour-intensive and costly than conventional strategies. “It takes a few week to rework flowers into incense powder,” they clarify. Regardless of the complexity, the corporate is managing to supply round 500 kilograms of incense sticks per 30 days.

Eco Petals’ long-term purpose is to scale its operations, with plans to broaden each inside India and internationally. “The incense market is big, and our distinctive product has the potential to disrupt the trade. Whereas we’ve targeted on on-line gross sales to date, we plan to broaden our attain by offline channels like natural shops,” says Kinjal. Moreover, they’re engaged on creating extra fragrances and branching into associated merchandise, equivalent to mosquito repellents.

The startup’s success is intently tied to its native partnerships. With round 100 retailers in Coimbatore’s flower market, Eco Petals works with 10 to fifteen distributors day by day. As the corporate grows, it hopes to scale these partnerships additional.

Eco Petals’ branding additionally faucets into cultural nostalgia. The corporate includes a grandmother as its mascot, a determine that the founder says ‘symbolises the guts and soul of our model’. The concept got here from the numerous grandmothers encountered all through the startup’s journey, like Parvati paati, whose knowledge and purity mirror the model’s ethos. “We hope to evoke emotions of nostalgia, heat, and belief,” says Kinjal.