Beco Revolutionizes Household Care with Sustainable, Chemical-Free Products
What happens when you realize that a simple piece of plastic you threw away yesterday will outlive your great-grandchildren? For Akshay Varma and his co-founders Aditya Ruia and Anuj Ruia, a discarded chocolate wrapper from the 1990s was the wake-up call that launched Beco. Today, Beco is a leading Indian brand in the sustainable home and kitchen care category, proving that natural, chemical-free products can be both effective and accessible for the modern household.
The 'Chocolate Wrapper' Epiphany
The journey of Beco began with a walk on a beach. One of Akshay's co-founders picked up a chocolate wrapper that looked brand new. Upon closer inspection, they realized the bar had been discontinued in the 1990s. "It was not going to biodegrade for the next 100 or 200 years," Akshay shares. This coincided with the plastic ban in Maharashtra, creating a perfect storm for a new sustainable venture.
They noticed a glaring gap in the market: alternatives were often 2x to 4x more expensive, and there had been virtually no innovation in household essentials for decades. Beco was founded to bridge this gap, offering chemical-free, natural products that are "good for you and good for the environment."
Building the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Akshay and his team didn't just guess what customers wanted; they asked. They started with intensive customer surveys and small-scale samplers. "Don't just work on assumptions," Akshay advises. They took their initial range of products—tissue papers, garbage bags, and earbuds—to supermarkets and farmers' markets in Mumbai, gathering feedback every step of the way.
The Beco Product Ecosystem
Beco has expanded from basic disposables to a full range of home care solutions:
- Disposables: Bamboo-based tissue papers, compostable garbage bags, and earbuds.
- Home Cleaners: Natural floor cleaners, detergents, and dishwashing liquids.
- Upcoming Innovations: Mosquito repellents and specialized bathroom cleaners.
The Scale of Operations
From humble beginnings selling at farmers' markets, Beco has scaled impressively across three primary channels: their own website, e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon and Zepto, and an expanding offline presence. Today, they serve over a lakh of customers every month across Mumbai, Bangalore, and beyond.
Beco's Traction
- D2C Reach: Serving thousands of unique customers monthly through their website.
- Marketplace Growth: Over 1,00,000 customers serviced every month on e-commerce platforms.
- Offline Presence: Strong foothold in modern trade and retail across major metros.
Navigating the Entrepreneurial Grind
For Akshay, entrepreneurship is synonymous with problem-solving. "Every day you face a new challenge which might be more difficult than the last day," he says. He emphasizes that there are no "growth hacks" that last; success comes from persistent effort and staying "on it" every single day.
Despite the high-pressure environment—often working more than 90 hours a week—Akshay stresses the importance of work-life balance and a strong company culture. At Beco, they focus on results rather than hours clocked, allowing team members the flexibility to work in ways that suit them best.
Akshay's Lessons for Founders
- Make Mistakes: "If you're not making mistakes, you're not doing a business." Learn and move forward.
- Team is Everything: You can't do it alone. Build a culture that empowers people.
- Become Redundant: Your goal as a founder should be to design a role, make it a success, and then find someone better to do it so you can focus on the next phase of growth.
- Stay Persistent: Growth hacks are temporary. Persistent effort in a particular channel is what builds a legacy.
A Responsibility to Society
Akshay's motivation for choosing entrepreneurship over a traditional corporate job was a desire to create something he could be proud of—something that creates jobs and makes a tangible difference to society. By eliminating harmful chemicals from household cleaners and plastic from everyday disposables, Beco is doing just that.
As the brand continues to expand its product line and geographical reach, the mission remains the same: making sustainable living the default choice for every Indian home.