TOP STORIES: Medimix pioneer's grandson takes brand to Rs 300 crore turnover with father, and dispatches own startup

Many years before Ayurveda became a buzzword across the globe, South Indian brand Medimix used Ayurvedic oils to make a soap that was initially sold as a prescribed product in pharmacies in Chennai in the 1960s. Today, the founder of Medimix, VP Sidhan’s grandson Lasakan Cholayil, 30, is taking the family legacy forward.

In 2015, when he joined the Chennai-based company their turnover was Rs 200 crore, but he took the sales of the products online and also introduced new products taking the turnover to Rs 300 crore in FY 2021-22. His father Pradeep Cholayil is the managing director of the company. “When I joined the company in 2015, there was no online sale. We were only selling through retail shops,” says Lasakan, speaking about his stint at Medimix and his contributions to the brand.

In September 2019, Lasakan and his mother Jayadevi Cholayil joined hands to launch the Ayurvedic beauty startup brand Sadhev with Rs 2 crore, funded by the parent company Cholayil Private Limited. “At Sadhev, we have 19 SKUs in the categories of soaps, aloe vera gel, rose water, shampoo, conditioner, kumkumadi oil, and coconut shower oil,” says Lasakan. Heirloom Bay Private Ltd, the company started by Lasakan and his mother, touched a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore in 2020 and Rs 3 crore in FY 2021-22.

The price range of Sadhev is between Rs 300 and Rs 2000 and the products are manufactured at the Medimix factory in Tada, about 70 km from Chennai on the Andhra Pradesh -Tamil Nadu border. Started with two employees at their corporate office in Anna Nagar, Chennai, which is located right next to the Medimix office, they have added six more staff now. Medimix was launched in 1969 in Chennai by VP Sidhan, who worked as an allopathic doctor in the Indian railways.

“It worked well and seeing a business opportunity he developed it into a soap later,” says Lasakan, sharing the history of Medimix which commemorated its 50th year in 2018. He took the soap to different parts of Chennai on his bicycle and promoted the product among doctors and chemists. My father joined the company in 1983 and our turnover at that time was about Rs one crore and there were about 50 employees.

In 1969 the price of a 75g bar of soap was Rs 2, today it is Rs 160. From Chennai, the brand spread to other parts of Tamil Nadu, South India, and later to North India. “We supply to 30 countries, and we have markets in Taiwan, the Middle East, Japan, USA, and Africa,” says Lasakan. “Even before I officially joined the company, I went on business trips with my father to many countries around 2010 to get an understanding of the foreign market.

On one such trip, I convinced a Canadian to use Medimix soap, knowing well that foreigners are a little wary of Indian products. “Within a few years the situation changed and Ayurveda became huge, as it seemed the West had finally discovered Ayurveda.” Today, 15% of Medimix sales come from exports. Lasakan finished Class 12 at American International School, Chennai, in 2010.

His mother would often take him to the R&D department at Medimix to see how the products were made. In the bathroom while taking bath, I would then mix different shampoos and soaps and see how they smelt,” says Lasakan, whose younger sister, Sumera, is planning to go abroad for her higher education. Lasakan himself was an average student at school, and he says certain subjects like arts, photography, sculpture, and pottery interested him.