Only Earth founder declares that the brand will unveil 15 new SKUs in 2022

With the swift decline of our planet underway, it is critical that climate change be fought with a fervour. At the helm of this are manufacturers and entrepreneurs who understand the importance of sustainable food production and its positive impact on mitigating climate change. Therefore, as the demand for plant-based food and beverage products grows, it has caused trend-driven SKU propagation to accelerate. This has resulted in various brands going out of their way to present a new range of products and beverages in lots of diverse formulations or proportions to meet the sustainability and accessibility demands of consumers. 

Only Earth is a prime example of this phenomenon. The company was motivated against climate change all because they understood that there was no planet B.

Only Earth was born out of ‘eco-anxiety’ for our planet’s swift deterioration

They grasp the fact that food production causes 26% of greenhouse gas emissions around the world. And while food is a necessity, the way we produce it can change for the better. Did you know that humans devote 83% of farmland to rearing livestock? Yet the yield is a meager  18% of consumed calories. Therefore, as this isn’t sustainable, there is a need for finding better, more practical and cruelty-free means to satisfy the world’s food demand. Hence, for furthering sustainability, Only Earth acted on the ‘eco-anxiety’ they felt and looked for creative ways to counteract our planet’s deterioration.

In their effort to fight climate change they have made significant progress in a short period. With the growing demand for plant-based products - Only Earth is launching 15 new SKUs in food and beverages this year.

Kunal Mehta reveals his mission for the brand

Speaking of his key learnings from the last year, Kunal Mehta, Founder, and MD of Only earth said, he understood the importance of ‘Conscious consumption, E-Commerce is the King and that Veganism is here to stay. Elaborating on his vision for his brand in 2022, he shared, “We have a simple goal of becoming the most loved Plant-Based dairy alternative brand in India. We are aiming to double the revenue run rate in 2022 with the introduction of 10-15 more SKUs of products covering food and beverage categories. We are also working on our plans to launch our products in 5 international markets. We also plan on continuing educating the masses on veganism which helps in treading lightly on the planet, in conserving resources, animals and reducing the collective carbon footprint.”

Revealing how they plan to pave the way to this goal, he elucidates, “Right from the beginning, we have had an Omnichannel-centric approach to the market. In a period of 7 months, we expanded to over 12 cities with a presence in more than 1000 retail outlets. E-commerce and HORECA as channels have both played a critical growth so far. Going direct to the consumer is going to be a priority this year. We had consciously decided to delay our decision to start a D2C website due to the high cost of acquisition initially. However, now that we have got healthy traffic on our portal, we are switching to a brand new D2C website by March of this year.”

Map the growth of the company despite the pandemic

Moving beyond the confines of the pandemic period, he speaks of how the company has grown. “It’s quite encouraging to taste early success since we got started. On the retail and e-commerce front, we have been driving the maximum sales per unit for Oats Milk. This itself is quite an achievement for a 7-month-old brand. In HORECA, we have had important breakthroughs in partnerships with Starbucks, Oberoi, and many other chains and standalone popular cafeterias and hotels. To build brand awareness, we have partnered with popular influencers across the country.”

What initiatives and projects the future holds for this brand

About other such initiatives, Kunal adds, “We have associated with 3 environmental projects in total with Coral propagation being the first one. On World Soil Day, we did an afforestation initiative to plant about 1 Lakh trees in central India. This project with fruit-bearing trees will provide farmers with alternate income and improve their livelihood. Wildlife conservation is the 3rd initiative we have planned to work on. We are in discussion with wildlife agencies like WWF and a few others to identify, adapt and improve the habitat for endangered species in India.

Indeed, Kunal’s vision along with the efforts of countless others is sure to usher in an era of conscientiousness where people are more aware of sustainable food choices. The outlook in 2022 is promising indeed for veganism and vegan entrepreneurs.

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