The plural of spouse is spice🌶️
All things noteworthy in the D2C space
Hey👋
Welcome to this week’s edition of GlobalBees D2C Pulse! In case you missed our last few editions, check them out here!
This week’s stories range from a Bollywood couple entering the D2C arena to a spicy sauce that's a must-try. However, we start with a 400 mn strong group in India - Millennials.
Millennials are one of the largest generations in history, and they're currently in their prime spending years 🤑 . It’s no secret that younger consumers shop with their social views in mind. One of the industries that is thriving the most on the back of the millennial mindset is the alt-protein industry.
Millennials are woke towards vices of animal agriculture and identify themselves as flexitarian.
In today’s issue, we see how plant-based foods are taking off in India, with interesting developments in Goodmylk, Imagine Foods, Proeon and more!
What’s in the news?
🍼 Goodmylk is milkin money
Alt dairy producer Goodmylk that makes cashew milk, oats milk and peanut curd has raised USD 1 mn. Goodmylk plans to use the fresh funds towards expanding its product portfolio and distribution and make plant-based dairy accessible all over India. The global plant-based proteins sector is projected to reach nearly USD 200 bn by 2027.
The buzz around plant-based foods is not just limited to dairy; Bollywood celebrity couple Riteish & Genelia, recently launched their much awaited start-up Imagine Foods that offers vegan chicken, mutton, kebabs and keemas.
Also, Proeon, a B2B start-up that supplies plant protein ingredients (mung, hemp, amaranth protein) to food companies, raised USD 2.4 mn to enhance its research on plant protein. As per Good Food Institute, > 40 indigenous plants have potential application in plant based foods!
Read more about the budding vegan industry in India here.
🤑 Tata wants the best of both worlds
With the boom of e-commerce, online marketplaces are flooded with D2C brands and it’s getting noisy for customers. That’s why the customers have started seeing value in niche marketplaces that serve a specific purpose and are able to showcase expertise within that product category e.g. Nykaa, Purplle & MyGlamm (beauty), Greend (vegan food), Brandcurry (sustainable products), Firstcry (baby).
Tata despite owing full-service marketplace Tata CLiQ, is having FOMO and has been investing in niche marketplaces including Big Basket, 1mg Technologies and Cultfit. It is now planning to launch a new e-comm platform exclusively to sell beauty and cosmetics products to compete with Nykaa and the likes.
🤼♂️ CAIT halla-bols on e-commerce
On June 21, 2021, Consumer Affairs Department (CAD) issued the E-commerce Rules that included certain controversial provisions like no flash sales, fall back liability of the platform, no related party listing etc. (know more here).
Ever since then, the rules have been vehemently opposed by the e-comm players like Amazon & Flipkart, causing delay in its implementation. Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), an apex body of SMEs favouring the rules, is in no mood to be taken on a ride. It has launched a month-long national dharna against e-commerce giants wherein it will hold 'dharnas' in more than 500 cities across the country.
CAIT has in the past mobilised against the monopoly of foreign e-comm players and written to the GoI about their non-competitive business practices.
Let’s see who wins the battle!
🍿 Tech bites
Here’s a list of updates on some tech start-ups enabling the D2C eco-system:
Mailchimp, the tool most used for newsletters, was just bought out for USD 12 bn by Intuit.
Godamwale, a warehouse discovery and leasing platform raised USD 1 mn from Capt. Anand Aryamane.
Brands that caught our eye!
🌶️ Keep it hot and spicy!
Have you ever come across Naagin Bhoot? Before you start imagining a blue-eyed Sridevi, know that we are talking about the signature range of sauces by an Indian brand called ‘Naagin’.
Naagin celebrates the uniqueness and the punchiness of Indian chillies through its fiery sauces. Co-founded by Mikhel Rajani, this startup makes 100% vegan sauces from ethically sourced ingredients and uses no artificial flavours.
PS: We recommend trying their Kantha Bomb flavour too.
👶 Relive your childhood with Phulo Phalo!
From chutneys to D2C masalas. Phulo Phalo is an initiative to make the age-old kitchen wisdom of dadis & nanis meet the convenience of the Millennials and the Gen Zs. This platform facilitates elderly people to sell their homemade products (like spice blends, pickles, assorted nut mixes, herbs etc.) online and reach a wider audience.
Each of the products is made at home with recipes developed by elderly team members, using pure and premium ingredients, free of chemicals and preservatives.
Trend of the week: Sheroes of the D2C world! 🚺
In a big win for women everywhere, Ola’s Electric Mobility division is building the largest all-women factory of the world in Tamil Nadu called the ‘Ola Future Factory’, with annual capacity of 10 mn vehicles!
The D2C sector, not wanting to be left behind, has a growing list of female founders like Rashi Narang (Heads up for Tails), Ayushi Gudwani (Fable Street), Falguni Nayar (Nykaa), running promising start-ups. Here’s a list of more start-ups with women founders running the show👇
Reads & Recommendations
Growth Hacker is the new VP Marketing by Andrew Chen
How to Kickstart and Scale a Marketplace Business by Lenny Rachitsky
Review of animal products alternatives by Paras Chopra
Business tact of the week
Want more SEO juice from Google?🧃
Move your blog from subdomain’ to ‘subdirectory’ i.e. change blog.website.com to website.com/blog.
That’s all for this week!
Stay tuned for more insights about the D2C start-ups in India.
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