Few years ago, Nikita Naterwalla was diagnosed with Perimenopause and was prescribed 6-7 supplements a day which was certainly nothing but food in the form of pills and tablets, ho-hum to swallow, unappetising and made her feel more like a patient.
Speaking with The Organic Magazine, Nikita recalls, “I have always had a natural aversion to swallowing tablets and despite being part of the wellness industry with a company that made supplements, I just was not a big fan of supplementing with tablets. I have always preferred riding the pain and discomfort to provide my body with a quick remedy stemmed from synthetic chemicals. I know that sounds a bit masochistic but I would rather allow my body to heal naturally, through good foods and natural remedies, than pump myself with unnecessary pills. In this case particularly, I wanted to enjoy the process of making my body healthy again and nothing that I found in the market did the job.”
Supplements in a candy?
She remembers nibbling on a piece of chocolate and telling her husband, Cyrus, about how she wished the awful tasting home remedies she was making to avoid the supplements tasted like the chocolate. “And this was our story’s eureka moment. If it’s food that your body needs, why have it in the form of a pill? What if we could reimagine our daily supplements? What if we could take all these supplements and add them to something that we love to eat? ” Nikita questions.
After years of experience working in the health and wellness sector and the medical background of Nikita’s husband, who is the co-founder of their company, Arelang Naturals.
Dr. Cyrus Naterwalla and Nikita began their extensive research and development, trial, error and a multitude of taste tests. And after years of toiling, they finally succeeded in developing one of their prodigious brands ‘Caim by Arelang’.
Caim by Arelang is the first brand launched by Arelang Naturals that offers supplementation through confectionery – Candy ceuticals. The brand promises to prioritise nutrition in the most fun and delicious form so that you can enjoy the process of making yourself healthy again.
“Our vision is to revolutionise supplementation. We have in the pipeline over 20 formulations that we promise to bring to our consumers in innovative forms of confectionery within the next 2 years or so. Again as we expand, we will be introducing multiple flavour variants of our formulations and possibly more formulations as we see the need,” Nikita explains.
The inspiration
The word ‘Arelang’ comes from a Norwegian word which means something that has persisted for a long time; something that stood the test of time, knowledge, ancient remedies and traditional herbs. The company has a range of products that have both restorative and effective properties.
The word ‘Caim’ comes from a Gaelic word means to form an invisible circle of protection around someone. It is quite similar to the lemon chilli ‘nazar’ that people do in India to ward off evil spirits.
“We chose Caim as we wanted to offer through our products and formulations, a circle of protection for health and wellness to our consumers,” says Nikita.
Caim by Arelang was launched around the middle of August 2021, which was a few months after the second wave of the global pandemic in India. Although the formulations were ready, the majority of the company’s developmental and production stages ran through the peak period of the India wide lockdown in 2021. However, it was a huge learning experience for them.
Nikita tells us, “Of course, there have been a lot of ups and downs, and some days have been frightfully frustrating. Every setback, like when a timeline crossed, or when we were unable to procure our active ingredients, or when our factories were not operational or when our containers took longer for delivery, were all learning experiences.”
However, a positive side is the current rise in health concerns in people generally. It gave an opportunity to grow the business that offers the best natural plant-based, potent ingredients and delivers delicious confectionery with the at-home purchase demands increasing and buying patterns of consumers shifting to online purchases. And therefore, the launch of the company’s module of D2C sales certainly got a boost.
Nikita shares, “Once we launched, we were able to reach our target audiences effectively. Developing the awareness of a completely new segment will be an on-going process and a steep hill to climb. Having launched with only 4 formulations that cater to diverse demographics, we have received amazing testimonies on the taste and efficacy of our products, and with a large percentage of returning customers, I would say that we have made a decent start.”
Supported by science
Arelang Naturals is India’s first candy ceutical company that provides plant-based, potent and result oriented health supplements through confectionery – chocolates and gummies and a host of innovations in the pipeline. The company has five formulations currently available in the market, using only potent plant based ingredients that help generate solutions that cater to targeted deficiency problems. Moreover, the formulations are supported by the science of phytochemicals and backed by research to ensure that each product is result driven.
Supplements which are basically made from synthetic vitamins and minerals are never ideal solutions as they cannot be absorbed optimally by the body. They provide the body with external alternatives of what an ideal body is already capable of producing. Once synthetic alternatives are supplied to the body, the body’s ability to produce it naturally ceases or retards, making the body dependant on the external source of supplementation.
The company ideally focuses on providing solutions that help the body to function optimally the way it is meant to. The solid research is based on the fundamentals of how much micronutrient is absorbed by the body just to ensure that the body does not receive an excess of nutrients that might have chances to damage the liver. The quality or the potency of the ingredients are at the highest so that the amount that is absorbed is effective, using only plant based potent ingredients to allow the body to recognise it easily and readily absorb the nutrients. Moreover, there is no consumption of API or chemically synthesised alternatives. And hence, there comes an amazing, documented fact that the body absorbs more nutrients from the foods that it enjoys the foremost.
The company sources the ingredients from the best extract manufacturers in the country. It ensures that the suppliers have been able to provide them with extracts that are highly potent and the ingredients are completely traceable to the region of growth.
Details of all the ingredients from plant to extract are provided on the website. We have partnered with some of the best extract manufacturers in India, who work with us to give us the bio actives that we are looking for in the right quantity, potency and quality. Ingredients specifically made for us so we could provide our formulations with the best! Our current product line:
- Rekindle for Men are dark sugar free chocolates that provide natural testosterone boosters for energy, mood and stamina.
- Rekindle for Women are dark sugar free chocolates that provide natural estrogen balancers for PMS, Menopause, Post Menopause discomforts.
- Restoring your sleep are dark sugar free chocolates with no melatonin that naturally provide deep sleep.
- Replenish with Greens are sugar free gummies that provide the body with a boost of fibroblast production to kick start the natural elastin and collagen production for great hair, skin and nails.
- Replenish with Phytos are sugar free gummies that provide the body with its natural boost in glutathione production for overall immunity boost and fighting free radicals and oxidative stress.
Bursting the myths
Arelang Naturals plans to revolutionise supplementation and it has over 20 targeted formulations that promise to bring out to the consumers in a most innovative form of confectionery within 2 years or so. Moreover, the company will be introducing multiple flavour variants soon.
The company wants to make the supplements more fun and enjoyable for the consumers and also ensures that the body gets plant-based nutrients, compelling the body to function the way it is built to work. The brass tack level of supplementation is to supplement the body with the foods which are missing from the daily diet. However, they identify the deficiencies and find the foods in nature and age-old remedies to balance the body’s needs.
“Hopefully, if things go as planned, you will be seeing several new innovative initiatives from us in the field of natural wellness in the coming years. Our immediate goal of course is to be able to reach our audiences, educate them on the goodness of the products, provide information to them on how their body works and hopefully clear up their myths on nutrition. We are hoping to be able to generate a loyal customer base that loves the product we have created for their bodies and make them a part of their daily routine,” sums up Nikita.
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