From Idam House of Brands comes Bella Vita Organic, a brand that is simplifying skin care for Indians with its Ayurvedic formulations. The brand’s clean and natural products have helped it gain a loyal following. In 2022, Bella Vita Organic roped in supermodel and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman as its brand ambassador to break through the gendered clutter surrounding skin care and bolster brand visibility
An exciting start
Bella Vita Organic’s story goes back to 2018 when Aakash Anand’s mother was creating Ayurvedic formulations for her salon customers. “These would give positive results and so the demand for them grew. That is when my mother thought to reach out to other consumers. We forayed into the category by launching homemade and organic Ayurvedic skincare solutions under our brand ‘Bella Vita Organic’,” shares Anand.
The brand’s growth, he continues, is thanks to it being consistent in introducing unique products and capturing the niche segments such as lip care and body scrubs. “Apart from these, we have had long-lasting products such as face washes and moisturisers complementing our niche offerings,” adds Anand.
The parent company of Bella Vita Organic is Idam House of Brands, which is also home to brands such as Brave Essentials (men’s skin care), MeeSoGood (premium chocolates and instant coffee), Bella Vita Luxury (luxury perfumes) and Bevzilla (coffee and beverages).
Along the way
Bella Vita Organic began by doing things differently in terms of product creation. “For example, the ‘NicoLips’ lip scrub was one of our first products because lip care was a niche segment and people were only using lip balms in those days. The idea was to reach the people who would use this scrub that also acted as a moisturiser for lips,” explains Anand.
The lip scrub with its multiple purposes was a big hit. “Another product was our ‘Eyelift’ under-eye cream, ideal for people working round the clock and suffering from dark circles under their eyes. Then we launched the ‘Exfoliate’ body scrub— this was at a time when only a few brands were popping up here and there in the segment. We wanted to capture that market with body scrub as a product category,” conveys Anand.
In this way, Bella Vita Organic, he continues, introduced products that were not available then. “While we had the usual face washes, packs and creams, we were also launching other [unique] products,” says Anand. The brand continues to innovate even today, creating and launching products that set it apart from the entire segment. To give the brand the right push, Anand and his team try different marketing tactics. “For years, we did not rope in celebrities or influencers to promote our brand. We would simply assure customers that our products are good for them,” shares Anand.
It was only in 2022 that Bella Vita Organic named its brand ambassador: supermodel and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman. “Soman has not advertised much and roping in a 56-year-old timeless personality like him for our skin care brand was one of our very successful campaigns. We got a huge positive response across regions and people began accepting the fact that skin care is for everyone. We were thus able to break through the gendered clutter in the segment,” reveals Anand.
Looking to the future
Bella Vita Organic has been profitable since day one. “In terms of revenue, we have stayed positive in double digits, while a lot of other brands in the same segment are in the negative,” shares Anand.
The brand also raised a series A round for expansion. “We have been very particular in our goals for expansion. We want to expand in the retail space and have a robust plan which would help us launch an IPO [initial public offering], probably two or three years down the line,” adds Anand.
He further says that in another year Bella Vita Organic may have its exclusive brand outlets. “But, as of now, we want to be present in as many GT [or general trade, meaning small-scale retail] outlets that are there in the market. We also want to enhance our product portfolio and keep on improving our material margins and start optimising our performance marketing spends, so that we can reach out to new consumers,” finishes Anand.
