About three months ago Kinshuk Mishra, Jahangir Mondal and Atul Gupta created Awenest, a plastic free marketplace for sustainable living that aims to make conscious consumer choices aspirational by guiding, curating and quantifying the impact of one’s choices.
Initially, the founders were simply attempting to solve their individual problem of how and what to consume to put the minimum chemicals in their bodies and have the least impact on the planet. As they continued on this endeavour of exploration to better understand the sustainability space, they realised that many people are looking for similar solutions and are disillusioned by ambiguous information and inconvenient solutions. “So we set out to provide both,” says Atul.
As a customer of Awenest, one gets to measure the positive impact of their purchases. For example, for every product that one buys, one can see how much plastic they have saved. “We encourage our customers sustainability journey by rewarding them with discounts and contributions on behalf of them based on their purchases,” explains Kinshuk.
Hand-picked products
Awenest offers over 4000 hand-picked products in the categories of food, grains, self-care, and home care. The founders only include products that they can vouch for and double-check all claims and certifications.
They are committed to expanding the organic grain selection. Awenest’s partner brands including Conscious Foods, True Farms, D alive, Nutriorg, and Tassyam, all have organic certifications. Some of the major certifications include NPOP, Ecocert, Jaivik Bharat, USDA Organic, and state-level organic certifications. Some skin care brands, such as Juicy Chemistry, use certified organic ingredients. Furthermore, Awenest also has a large selection of cruelty-free products.
“At Awenest, we try to look at sustainability across three lenses – social, environmental and human wellbeing. To give you an example, plastic-free and organic products are important to us as these attributes have a high impact on both the environment and human health. Organic products are about 25% to 60% less on emissions and they are the best food the body can get,” says Jahangir, talking about the sourcing of their products and views on sustainability.
Women-owned businesses or those that generate rural employment have a positive social impact. Awenest, rigorously evaluates every item across 34 such values, and the best part is that one can personalise at Awenest based on one’s top parameters , so each customer can have their own Awenest store built around their personal values.
According to Atul, it is difficult to return to other brands after trying products on Awenest because the products are genuinely good and the website has a great interface for ease of shopping and billing.
Awenest’s organic peanut butter, organic ketchup, organic honey, and organic dry fruits are the most popular. Other top sellers include cruelty-free lip balms, soaps, natural deodorants, and flower-infused hair oils in the self-care category. The common thread running through all of the products is that they are sustainable in more than one attribute, and this shows in the product’s quality.
The honest way ahead
Speaking on the journey thus far and the challenges of getting into the organic sector, Kinshuk says, “We have more than 120 brands in our store and we selected them after a rigorous evaluation process. Based on our experience, I can say that the government has done a lot to streamline the flow of organic ingredients in India. And the new licensing and tracking process through tracenet by APEDA ensures that one can account for every organic grain in the country.”
He continues, “With the demand for organic food growing in our country, acreage is increasing rapidly. There is huge headroom for growth as only 2% of the overall arable land in India is under organic farming. And it is great for the environment as well. So, if you are willing to work hard, it is not difficult to enter the organic space.”
“We see Awenest as the backbone of sustainable living in India. We set out to create a community of aware and discerning consumers. Our efforts should nurture upcoming sustainable brands and together, and we want to empower Indians to make the choices that lead to healthy living and a greener planet. At Awenest, you will find a planet-friendly, child-friendly, organic, pet-friendly, chemical-free, plastic-free version of any product that you commonly use,” says Atul in summing up their future plans.
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