Priyanka Raina Leverages the Power of Nature with Maaté The brand brings out the effectiveness of precious oils, pure herbs and extracts to provide natural care and protection to babies

Gracia Raina foundation, named after her daughter, was Priyanka Raina's first initiative through which she was exposed to mother and child health and wellness across diverse demographics. Her latest venture is Maaté, a premium natural baby care brand to nurture a baby through nature. As a mother, she found it difficult to find a pure and natural product, thereby leading to the birth of the brand. Crediting motherhood that helped her run the business, she says, "I was able to give my 100 per cent to both my roles because I understand the needs of a mother equally well."

Raina started her entrepreneurial journey along with her husband and Indian international cricketer Suresh Raina. Talking about his role, she says, "Suresh always has a very critical angle to things. His challenging questions help us to dig down further. That's how he has been playing all these years, working on the analysis of the situation and then re-working on it."

Conscious Packaging
Raina proudly shares that her current manufacturing partner only employs women. These mothers are trained in the skill of herb extracting, blending and storing techniques inspired by the book of Ayurveda. Talking about her challenges, she says, "Even freezing a formulation took us more than a year." In addition to this, when manufacturing their glass bottles, the spray paint used for the distinct Maaté Pearl white shade is achieved by using water-soluble spray paint techniques. This advanced technology does not use any chemical-based paints. The cartons used to package their range of products are made from certified paper and high-grade chemical-free ink. They do not utilize any single-use plastic material in their e-commerce packaging, starting from cartons, tapes, seals and fillers.

Sharing her vision for the brand, Raina adds, "Reach out to more and more parents whilst building trust and continue to add more families so parents understand the nurturing needs and gaps."

The Products
The initial launch of Maaté had six products. The range is divided in three categories basis how a mother actually nurtures her child. One of the categories is "nourish' comprising hair massage and body massage oil. The other is "cleanse' range which is body wash and hair cleanser, followed by the "comfort' range which is the butters, having body butter and face butter. On the product range, Raina adds, "We don't give a one-stop solution as this is not something which I would use for myself. We are working on more products including some fun products for babies."

Currently, Maate is exploring various online and offline channels, which serve the premium and elite audience they cater to. Talking about what worked in her advantage, Raina concludes, "What works the best is working along with your team."

(This article was first published in the March 2020 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)