We Would Like Auric To Become A Habit

Meet Deepak Agarwal, founder and CEO of Auric Beverages, as he tells CEO India why he launched an Ayurvedic beverage brand, what makes it unique and his plans to grow the business across the country.

What made you start this venture? What was the thought behind? Who were the people involved?

I am a chemical engineer from IIT Delhi with almost 9 years of experience with Unilever in India and overseas, and have worked across haircare, skincare, soaps and ice-cream prior to launching Auric in 2018. I have always been passionate about consumer brands and believe that brands people use reflect their intrinsic personality. Being a health enthusiast for a long period of time, I firmly believe in the right diet and nutrition. I used to play professionally and during one of the matches, I suffered from a hairline fracture in the backbone, leading to my long-drawn struggle with physiotherapy. That struggle brought me to the doors of yoga and I am now a proponent of ancient wisdom whether Yoga or Ayurveda.

During these experiences, I came across three questions:

A) Why is Ayurveda not part of lifestyle as much as yoga?

B) Why fruit juice is considered healthy when the first thing the doctor tells a diabetic is to stop drinking fruits?

C) Why people don’t have an option to eat or drink with a purpose when they have an option to buy a shampoo for a functional reason like anti-dandruff?

The answer to the first one came out from numerous conversations with consumers that Ayurveda is dark, complex and it is not aspirational and something consumers don’t want to be associated as a brand.

The answer to the second one was simply lack of efforts on making people aware that fruit juice is not equivalent to having a fruit. Since most of the companies find it easier to sell fruit juice and most of the consumers find it convenient to consume a fruit juice, therefore, there is a lack of intent on both supply and demand side.