Sustainable yet profitable

With growing awareness and the urgency of our times, more and more manufacturing companies are going green and producing innovative, eco-friendly as well as affordable products. Agro Composites®by Vasshin Composites (P) Ltd. with a desire to drive a widespread adoption of economically efficient practices for consumption of Earth’s resources have designed one-of-a-kind range of eco-friendly, anti-microbial tableware. Abhinav Talwar, CEO, Agro Composites talks about the growth and vision of its brand to help make the Earth a greener and safer place.

The brand Vasshin by Agro Composites grew out of the founders’ childhood exposure to forest fires and a need to do something about the root cause, viz pine needles with high oil content that are easily flammable. The evolution came about with the desire to democratize this carbon footprint solution for people at large to create a community of people dedicated to living a sustainable lifestyle. Our aim is to drive a widespread adoption of economically efficient practices for consumption of Earth’s resources. Keeping this purpose in mind, we have designed our one-of-a-kind range of eco-friendly, anti-microbial tableware. This gorgeous product line is made entirely from pine needles sourced directly from the Himalayan mountains and actively helps prevent forest fires in the region. This range helps reduce the use of plastic, hence displacing them from your landfills!

What is your vision for 2025?

We want to become a brand that’s on the top of people’s mind when it comes to living a sustainable lifestyle & a name that’s synonymous with plastic free durables that address not just your pocket but your karmic bank balance as well!

What is the USP of your brand that makes it different from others?

We are the only company in the world who are able to produce plastic free yet durable-reusable products from Himalayan Pine Needles. We have the strongest first mover advantage with trials and tests from European laboratories and are armed with a patent too. We have the strongest first mover advantage in the market, as we come with a Government of India patent in hand for the technology & process behind the path breaking innovation that’s already been brought out in the market, & has gone through trials & tests and more importantly have been able to create a niche market for itself.

Which all cities & towns are you looking at as potential cities to expand?

We are looking at all the metros & tier I in the first round of expansion. In the second round, we would penetrate the tier II with the help of our distributors & dealers from near-by areas.

What potential do you see in franchising or scaling this business concept?

A lot of investors want to associate themselves with a plastic free, durable-reusable first time product that has tremendous ESG potential. We see immense potential as there is no other company that makes durable, plastic free reusable products as a replacement for ceramic & melamine and helps save Himalayan forest fires in the process.

What are the benefits of becoming a franchisee/investor of your brand?

The GoI is already pushing hard for a plastic ban which can be seen in the latest plastic waste management audits. We are now even required to quantify the amount of plastic coating used on paper. As such, it is not long before #plasticfree will become a regular word and Agro Composites will be the No1 go to brand for such products as options from Plastic products. Again, ceramic tends to chip or shatter whereas our products are durable and will not chip or shatter.

What criteria do you follow to select the partners & what kind of training and support do you provide ?

We are seeking partners who have an inclination towards sustainability for various reasons. We look for those who are already in a business with some display space in a high foot traffic area like a hi-street or a mall. We have fixed training programs for all our associates & partners. We provide on-site support as & when required including visiting large enterprise offices for a joint call whenever our partners bring B2B sales opportunities. We monitor partner outreach campaigns and provide feedback and/or collaterals that can be used for better customer engagement.

For smaller franchisee models, we provide drop ship services direct to their customers leaving the franchisee partner headache free with no warehousing or shipping overheads.

Franchise facts