For Indian health and wellness brand Gaia, the issue at this juncture is not about getting the production activity in place, but in packaging of its products.

Dolly Kumar, the founder-Director of Cosmic Nutracos Solutions (p) Ltd - the parent company of Gaia, told BusinessLine that after the government permitted shipment of essential products, the company launched 48 hours doorstep delivery service, as its range of nutritional supplements fell under the list of essential food products.

“We launched the door-step delivery service on March 31 by deploying sales officers pan India to ensure safe and hygienic delivery of our products. During the past week, we realised that the logistic access to certain pockets in the country continued to remain a hassle. We are receiving 50 to 70 orders every day. While the signs are encouraging, the clampdown by select State governments is forcing us to decline some orders; the number of orders that we decline is minimal,” she added.

“The issue however is in getting the packaging material, as the suppliers have shut operations because of lockdown. We will be able to manage for about a month or so, but if the lockdown is extended, we will have difficulty in fulfilling our commitment to our customers,” said Kumar.

The company, which has three manufacturing plants in Himachal Pradesh, has been permitted to operate with select staff. Stating that the distribution has been pretty robust as its range of products is available across 22,000 retail outlets and 500 modern trade outlets, Kumar said that Gaia has established international footprints as well and had started investing heavily on digital.

“We have been registering a year-on-year growth of 40 per cent. The first quarter of the current fiscal might not be very encouraging, but as a wellness product, we hope to do well in the latter part of the current fiscal.

The product portfolio of Gaia ranges from nutritional supplements like Spirulina, Glucosamine, Flax Oil, Neem, Aloe Vera, Amla, Curcumin, Multivitamin, Calcium with D3 to health food substitutes like variants of green tea, infusions, muesli, honey, olive oil, cookies, oats, stevia, granola bars, trail mix, whey protein, everyday protein and organic spices.

Gaia also has 4 specialised lines under – Gaia Plus, Gaia Lite, Gaia Sport and Gaia Organic. While Gaia Plus comprises nutritional supplements, Gaia Lite has been specially designed for diabetics and weight conscious ones and Gaia Sport – for those that are conscious about fitness levels.

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