The Ladies’ Man

AN ENTREPRENEUR who is determined to break the taboo around feminine hygiene in India, Deep Bajaj co-founded Sirona Hygiene along with his brother Mohit more than five years ago. Sirona Hygiene fashions a range of products for PeeBuddy, their toilet hygiene brand, as well as those for menstrual hygiene care and family hygiene care. 

An angel-funded D2C company that has reported a CAGR of 140 per cent in the last three years, and armed with a small staff of 50 people, Sirona claims to have sold over 2 million units of PeeBuddy (India’s first stand and pee device) and Sirona menstrual cups to over 3 lakh women. “We have taken on issues like dirty toilets, menstrual cramps, rashes in intimate areas, etc. and solved them with many India-first products. This shows our commitment to our customers—a commitment to solving issues with relevant solutions and not better mousetrap. This passion to solve problems and innovate sets us apart,” says Deep. 

The company hopes to alter the mindset of people by breaking the taboo around the subject of female hygiene and considers itself to be locked in with other companies to spread awareness rather than compete.

Pandemic Induced Change

Talking of its operations during the pandemic, Deep states that the company had continued to grow. “Customer hygiene needs have changed, especially because people weren’t travelling. This opened up room for a lot of hygiene care products that had to be fulfilled at home. While people weren’t stepping out and consuming the toilet hygiene range, they still needed hygiene care items like facemasks and at-home products like face and body razors,” Deep elaborates.

He declares that a unified vision runs throughout his team, enabling all of them to articulate what the company stands for. “Beyond a point there nothing unique about products, it is the people who make you stand out.”

Looking onward, the company hopes to continue being profitable and clock a Rs 100 crore turn­over, expand their team, dis­rupt the industry by coming up with solutions for prob­lems that women are facing in intimate and menstrual hygiene and release India-first products that cater to these needs.

Social impact and visibility become critical for brands that look to provide novel menstrual solutions in a country where healthy femi­nine hygiene practices haven’t penetrated a huge part of the population. Beyond its sus­tainable image, the company also supports pay-it forward cam­paigns that cater to those who can­not afford the products. The com­pany has been felicitated with sev­eral awards and it has also cham­pioned initiatives to provide free menstrual products to trafficked sex workers through their AAAN programme.

Playing it by Ear

The company is also playing it by ear and expanding their range to address customer convenience in terms of menstrual hygiene, be it sustainable cups, tampons or col­oured biodegradable pads amid the passive reluctance towards adopting cups. 

Bajaj adds, “Hygiene now has a new meaning and it will not go back to where it was and we are hopeful that people will turn online to brands like us. Hygiene as a category is set for a massive overhaul.”

His predictions are based on the pandemic-induced upturn where customers are becoming more conscious of their health and are poised to meet their needs online. 

Bajaj expects e-commerce brands to lead the charge for con­sumer consumption as we come out of the pandemic, and for more D2C brands to emerge and fight for equal footing. The real test, however, lies in tackling the taboo and reaching out to amenable minds of consumers to convert them to sustainable hygiene care products.

DEEP BAJAJ

CO-FOUNDER: SIRONA HYGIENE

FOUNDED: 2015

SECTOR: HEALTH & WELLNESS / LIFESTYLE