At first look, the well-known poo market (flower market) in Coimbatore is an explosion of color and perfume, with contemporary blooms introduced in day-after-day. But, because the day winds down, a distinct scene emerges: heaps of unsold flowers, nonetheless aromatic however destined for waste. To handle 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 isn’t just 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 an alternative, it stands aside with an modern deal with utilizing contemporary flowers as its main uncooked materials — in accordance with 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 solely from contemporary flowers, straight from Coimbatore’s native flower market,” says Kinjal.
Hardhik Sonu and Kinjal Jain
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
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 price, guaranteeing they don’t go to waste. This advantages each us and the distributors, as we will 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 making 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 must be impartial,” she says.
“By offering them with a gentle revenue and a cushty working atmosphere, 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 wash the Ganges, Eco Petals took a distinct route after researching Coimbatore’s flower market. “We realised the true downside was the wastage of contemporary flowers out there. Our goal clients, primarily ladies and older individuals who carry out every day pujas, most popular contemporary flowers as choices to God,” says Kinjal.
This perception led them to deal with contemporary flowers somewhat than recycled ones, aligning their product with the cultural values of their shoppers.
The incense sticks, Kinjal guarantees, are eco-friendly and more healthy. Conventional incense usually incorporates charcoal, which might 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
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
The founders acknowledge that producing incense from contemporary flowers is extra labour-intensive and costly than conventional strategies. “It takes a couple of 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 monthly.
Eco Petals’ long-term aim is to scale its operations, with plans to develop each inside India and internationally. “The incense market is big, and our distinctive product has the potential to disrupt the trade. Whereas we’ve centered on on-line gross sales thus far, we plan to develop our attain by means of offline channels like natural shops,” says Kinjal. Moreover, they’re engaged on creating extra fragrances and branching into associated merchandise, akin to mosquito repellents.
The startup’s success is carefully tied to its native partnerships. With round 100 retailers in Coimbatore’s flower market, Eco Petals works with 10 to fifteen distributors every day. As the corporate grows, it hopes to scale these partnerships additional.
Eco Petals’ branding additionally faucets into cultural nostalgia. The corporate contains a grandmother as its mascot, a determine that the founder says ‘symbolises the guts and soul of our model’. The thought got here from the various 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.
Printed – October 14, 2024 05:09 pm IST
