Superbottoms Changes the Diaper Business in India From changing diapers to starting a diaper business, Pallavi Utagi, Founder, Superbottoms, took the traditional route and introduced cotton-based reusable diapers as an alternative to the disposable diaper industry

From changing diapers to starting a diaper business, Pallavi Utagi, Founder, Superbottoms, took the traditional route and introduced cotton based reusable diapers as an alternative to the disposable diaper industry. During three years of diaper usage, a baby uses a minimum of three diapers in a day and close to 3,300 diapers in a span of three years. However, only 10-15 of these organic reusable diapers will be required through their growing years.

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DEC 2015: Motherhood is a challenging phase but for Utagi, it was a notch higher. During her sabbatical from Piramal Group where she was working as a marketer, she invested a year researching on eco-friendly diapers and talking to fellow mothers about the right design and fit.

JAN 2016: She launched Superbottoms with a personal investment of Rs 24 lakh from a spare bedroom in her house in Mumbai. Sourcing organic cotton in South India, the company contacted manufacturing units in China and South India to test 200 diapers.

MID 2016: Focusing heavily on reducing carbon footprint, Superbottoms made a revenue of Rs 30 lakh through its orders within a span of six months of operations.

2017: Keeping sustainibility in mind, super moms made a presence on 1200+ Facebook pages and relied on word-of- mouth for creating brand awareness.

2018: Keen on expansion, Superbottoms approached Dr Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Cofounder, Venture Catalyst, through LinkedIn and secured an undisclosed amount of funding to later launch an organic cotton innerwear brand, SuperComfys.

SEP 2018: The products were placed in 100 offline stores in Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, among others, including modern format stores like Toys R Us. Till date, 15 per cent orders are from these stores while 85 per cent sales are through online channels such as Amazon, Flipkart and Hopscotch.

DEC 2018: A team of working and freelancing mothers made tropical designs for the diapers. Utagi mentions,

"Keeping up with the festive spirit, we launched Christmas-themed designer diapers. We managed to sell 1,000 diapers of just this single print this month!"

MAR 2019: The company launched its flagship Superbottoms Plus Uno Diapers'. The diaper, made of high quality organic cotton fabric, stays dry upto 12 hours of usage and lasts upto 250+ washes without degrading the quality.

APR 2019: Superbottoms launched SuperComfys. This line of products is for babies who are toilettrained.

"We wanted to launch a range for kids whilst staying true to our principles of comfort and inner wear,"

says Utagi, who sees 40 per cent repeat purchases.

JUN 2019: The company places "Superbaby Mascot' at clinics and hospitals across Delhi and Mumbai for parents to see the product and experience it before buying. Considering the fervour of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, a team of super moms launched "The Champions Range'. They have sold 1,000+ units till date and are still going strong.

(This article was first published in the August 2019 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)