The Indianaut Chronicles #6
A Conversation With Tanvi Bikhchandani (Co-founder, Tamarind Chutney)
Introducing, 'The Indianaut Chronicles', a fortnightly interview series where we sit down with some of the most accomplished entrepreneurs, CXOs, leaders, innovators, and visionaries to figure out what makes them tick and how they're spearheading the next wave of Indian innovation. Mapping Bharat one chronicle at a time!
Conscious fashion has been expanding rapidly all over the world. India is a nation of artisans and crafts. Tamarind Chutney was started by Tanvi Bikhchandani and Charanya Shekar out of a desire to support artisan livelihoods, preserve India’s craft heritage and sell amazing products - all while following ethical business principles.
While Tamarind Chutney started in 2019, the brand has been many years in the making. The founders, being old friends from school, often talked about working on crafts together because it united their interests. Previously, Tanvi has worked at Central Square Foundation, an education philanthropy fund. She holds a B.A. in Economics & South Asian Studies from Columbia University and an MBA from Stanford University.
Falguni: What is your Indianaut origin story?
Tanvi: I started Tamarind Chutney with my co-founder Charanya out of a desire to support artisan livelihoods, preserve India’s craft heritage and sell amazing products - all while following ethical business principles. We are on a mission to shake up the fashion industry and make it more equitable and sustainable. We aren’t just a brand that makes beautiful products - we exist to preserve India’s rich craft heritage and bring meaningful improvement in artisan livelihoods while being conscious of the environment and ethical towards all the people who work with us.
While we started TC in 2019, the brand has been many years in the making. Charanya and I are old friends from school and while life took us on different paths, our friendship remained strong. Between the sentimental reunions and fun girls’ trips, we often talked about working on crafts together because it united our interests. Finally, in the summer of 2019, the time was right and so it happened!
Falguni: What gap in the Indian retail ecosystem are you trying to bridge and why?
Tanvi: Tamarind Chutney works through a direct supply chain - eliminating middlemen to give artisans easier market access. We find that while many brands work with crafts, not enough work with and for the craftsperson. There’s a need to give our craftspersons a larger share of voice and wallet in their creations. We’re also strong believers in transparency – of our supply chain and in our prices. We mention the price breakdown of each of our garments online and that way customers know where their money is going. We hope to nudge the industry toward greater transparency in the long term.
Falguni: How do cater to the new wave of sustainability in the fashion industry with your products?
Tanvi: There is increasing interest among millennials and Gen-Z around sustainable fashion. TC is aimed at this segment – and we give a different spin to craft apparel, which is typically seen as traditional or festive. We work with craft methods that are inherently sustainable, and design craft fabrics into contemporary silhouettes that can be worn on a daily basis.
Falguni: What’s your creative growth hack strategy to promote your products?
Tanvi: Still a work in progress! We’ve found that our customers appreciate our honesty, authenticity, and willingness to walk the talk in terms of our values – our marketing and our internal business practices are centered around this.
Falguni: How does your ethical supply chain work? Is this a scalable model wherein the goal to empower artisans can be realized through a digital/hyperlocal network?
Tanvi: Most of our artisans have access to mobile internet – and we contact them that way and pay them timely, fair wages. Many artisans are already running informal marketplaces via Whatsapp i.e. sharing pictures of their fabric to a large distribution list to make sales. These can be formalized to connect artisans directly to small brands and boutiques across the country.
Falguni: How has technology changed the face of the fashion industry? Is AI as revolutionary for the retail revolutions as the hype?
Tanvi: There are two major spaces where technology can transform the fashion industry – one in predicting consumer demand, and two – in solving the perennial problem of sizing while online shopping using AR / VR. From my experience, definitely too early to solve the problem of sizing in the Indian market – I haven’t seen cost-effective solutions that work. While forecasting demand is possible for big businesses, smaller brands may not have the data or budget to invest in this. Small businesses should use technology to streamline production / operational processes and use analytics to increase conversations / returning customers.
Falguni: How has COVID-19 disruption affected your business and how did you innovate to overcome the challenge?
Tanvi: When COVID-19 hit, our revenues fell drastically. We had plans to sell in a few offline pop-ups which got canceled. While times were tough for us, we realized the immediate need was to ensure our artisans didn’t suffer – so we raised a relief fund to support their livelihood for the next two months. Eventually, we evolved our product offerings to include masks, accessories, and stay-at-home apparel. We also used the time to ramp out our social media marketing to drive online sales. Similarly, when Wave 2 happened, our D2C revenues fell again. However, we were able to survive by exploring newer sales channels, including bulk orders from enterprises.
Falguni: What is your share of advice to upcoming Indianauts?
Tanvi: Working on a startup requires relentless grit and hard work. Surround yourself with people who motivate you and give you energy – your team is your superpower!