Nani, Who Started Her Entrepreneurial Journey at 65, Sparks National Debate Over 100 percentage Ingredient Transparency

Indiarsquos rapidly growing clean ecofriendly and personalcare sector is facing a new transparency reckoning The conversation is being driven by RevealWhatsInsideCompletely a consumer transparency movement started by Nani now 70 who started her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 65 as the founder of Ayurvedainspired personal care brand BioMuniTaking a consumerfirst stance Nani is challenging a practice increasingly common across the modern D2C industry the use of broad marketing descriptions that can leave consumers unclear about the individual ingredients contained in a finished productTerms such as ldquonatural bioenzymesrdquo ldquoplantderived surfactantsrdquo and other umbrella descriptions may communicate a productrsquos positioning but Nani argues that consumers deserve greater clarity about what those descriptions actually containldquoIf a product is marketed as safe clean and better for my family why shouldnrsquot I be able to see exactly what is in itrdquo asks Nani Founder of BioMuni ldquoAs a grandmother and a founder I believe consumers deserve to know what they are putting on their hair skin and bodies or using around their families Consumers should not have to rely only on marketing language or brand assurances If an ingredient is in the product disclose itrdquoThe debate gained significant public attention after homecare brand BECO launched its WarOnWhatsHidden campaign encouraging consumers to question what is inside competing cleaning productsNani believes the question BECO has raised is an important oneBut she believes it should be applied consistently including to BECO itselfldquoIf we are asking established FMCG companies to reveal what is inside their products then the same question has to be asked of every brand participating in the conversation including BECO itselfrdquo says NaniBECOrsquos campaign asks consumers to question what may be hidden inside cleaning products But when the same standard of scrutiny is applied to BECOrsquos own product communication as a consumer questions remainBECOrsquos packaging highlights ldquoCoconut PlantBased Formula and 5 Natural Bio Enzymesrdquo on the back while the front refers to ldquoCoconutbased surfactantsrdquo ldquoOrange amp Frangipanirdquo towards bottom and ldquoIFRA Ecocert compliant ingredientsrdquo towards the topBut what exactly do these descriptions tell a consumerFive Natural BioEnzymes which fiveCoconutbased surfactants which onesAnd if a label says ldquoIFRA Ecocert compliant ingredientsrdquo does it mean it applies to all the ingredients or some specific onesThe transparency question becomes even more important when BECOrsquos website acknowledges the use of preservatives while this does not appear on the product labelSurprisingly somewhere on the BECO website palmbased surfactants are also mentioned and on the product label its just coconut based surfactants This can be really confusing for a consumer Why not have the complete list of ingredients at one place on the product label itself Or is the product label only highlighting the hero ingredients for marketing while the consumer has to search across different places to understand what is actually inside the productIf the brand is asking consumers to question what is hidden in other products shouldnrsquot the consumer also be able to find the complete ingredient information of the product being promoted as the transparent alternative clearly and in one placeNani says this is precisely where the distinction between selective transparency and complete transparency becomes importantldquoBECO has asked consumers to question what is hidden in other products That is a conversation I welcome But transparency cannot be a standard that applies only when we are examining someone elsersquos product If we are asking consumers to look closely then every brand should be willing to be looked at just as closelyrdquoWhat Does the Scanning Test by BECO Actually RevealBECO has also heavily promoted its scanningbased comparison as part of the conversation around hidden ingredientsBut Nani argues that consumers should distinguish between testing for the absence of one particular ingredient and revealing the complete contents of a productIf the scan demonstrates that LAS is absent from BECOrsquos dishwash and present in a competing dishwash that may establish a difference between the two productsBut it does not by itself reveal everything that is present inside either bottleldquoImagine a personalcare brand showing consumers a sulphatefree shampoo then testing another major shampoo brand and saying lsquoLook they have sulphates and we dontrsquordquo says Nani ldquoWould that tell the consumer everything that is inside either shampoo Of course notrdquoldquoThe same principle should apply to dishwash liquids Showing that one ingredient is absent from your product does not automatically tell consumers everything that is present Absence of one ingredient is not disclosure of all ingredientsrdquoAccording to Nani this is the fundamental difference between selective transparency and complete transparencyA campaign can demonstrate that a particular ingredient is present in one product and absent in another But consumers seeking complete transparency are entitled to ask a much broader questionWhat else is in the bottleldquoA test for one hidden ingredient is not a window into the entire bottlerdquo says NaniNani says RevealWhatsInsideCompletely was created to take the conversation one step furtherldquoIf we are going to ask consumers to question what is hidden then letrsquos go one step further and reveal what is actually inside completelyrdquo says NaniNani believes the issue extends beyond BECO and its campaign As Indiarsquos D2C ecosystem increasingly builds brands around words such as clean natural sustainable conscious and ecofriendly consumers are being asked to place greater trust in the brands behind those claimsHer argument is that this trust should be matched by transparencyldquoThe consumer deserves one standardrdquo says Nani ldquoWhether a brand is large or small traditional or newage if we are asking consumers to question what is hidden we should also be willing to reveal what is inside our own productsrdquoBioMuni says it has followed this principle from the beginning starting with its Hard Water Shampoo and Face Wash and continuing it across its subsequent hair and skincare productsThe brand says consumers should not have to decode broad marketing terms or rely solely on brand assurances to understand what they are purchasingAt BioMuni the complete list of ingredients used in a product is mentioned together on the product label itself The same complete ingredient information is also available on the BioMuni websitewwwbiomunicomIf transparency is important enough to demand from others it should be important enough to practise yourselfAbout BioMuniBioMuni is an Ayurvedainspired clean personal care and wellness brand built around a core philosophy of complete ingredient disclosure The brand develops targeted products for modern consumer concerns including its Hard Water Shampoo and Face Wash while providing consumers clear visibility into the ingredients used across its hair and skincare range

Nani, Who Started Her Entrepreneurial Journey at 65, Sparks National Debate Over 100 percentage Ingredient Transparency

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Home / Buzz / Article / Nani, Who Started Her Entrepreneurial Journey at 65, Sparks National Debate Over 100 percentage Ingredient Transparency

Nani, Who Started Her Entrepreneurial Journey at 65, Sparks National Debate Over 100 percentage Ingredient Transparency

Other Articles

Mid-Day Fast