Turab Randhawa is the founder of the upcoming startup, The KO/V Health Company. He is a multi – Industry, C - suite level professional with over 18 years global experiences in brand building and business innovation, from manufacturing to retail and marketplaces, and from design innovation to culture. Turab Randhawa is from Singapore and is also the founder of Spinnaker Skywalk, a consulting agency in Lahore.

Following are the edited transcripts of a conversation with Mr. Randhawa that revolved around his startup company.

BR Research: Could you elaborate what’s a health culture company and how did you come up with the idea?

Turab Randhawa: The idea came by chance. As a startup brand that started 7-8 months ago, we got into the business of trying to understand how we could help stop the pandemic, kill viruses, and have better hygiene. We tried to come up with one thing that would have a long-lasting impact. KO/V stands for kill off viruses, villains and vicious radicals. Our strategy from the beginning has been the ‘end-game’ strategy – as in what’s happening during the pandemic and what’s going to happen after the pandemic; how are lives getting affected and how will they change in the longer run. Although it was desperate times, we invested in time, money, energy and a lot of patience to acquire knowledge that would put us in the right direction to make a difference. That’s how KO/V was founded as a health culture company.

My wife and I used all the resources we had to connect globally during the pandemic. I kept writing to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Health Ministry and Environment Ministry in Singapore. Why Singapore? Besides my affiliation, Singapore was the first mover during the pandemic in terms of creating a confidence strategy. The number one objective when the pandemic hit all businesses and governments was the return to confidence. There were a variety of global routes for returning to confidence such as vaccine development, the purpose of the lower r value and social distancing plans, having more masks, practicing better hygiene and handwashing, building the immunity system, or reviving how global shipping and ecommerce was done, etc. Singapore returned to confidence by launching a campaign called SG Clean. It was a very quick, simple-step formula for businesses that shutdown to resume as soon as possible with Covid restrictions in place. In Singapore, large business remained shut, but smaller businesses were allowed to open if they operated in a prescribed manner because they didn’t want the average to lower income population to suffer as the government progressed to a phase-by-phase public confidence building strategy.

BRR: But Pakistan and Singapore have very different landscapes – one is a world class country while the other is a developing country. How did you apply the scenario here?

TR: The conditions in Pakistan are not like Singapore by a longshot, but we can adapt good ideas according to the landscape, which is why I kept pursuing information from the Singapore Government on a hygiene code; how they are opening businesses, restaurants, travel, airports, schools, etc. Acquiring all the knowledge and getting it transferred from National Environment Agency (NEA), we developed an algorithm that manages the hygiene mapping of different ecosystems when you balance it with handwash.

The cost of good quality hygiene is expensive in Pakistan, and many families find it difficult to keep with maintaining hygiene because it has a higher price point in an average family’s disposable income. The global market size of sanitizers before the pandemic was under $1 billion. By 2025, the global retail value of sanitizers and the hygiene category is going to peak at $25 billion in the post pandemic world. All this information led us to use the algorithm; combine our manufacturing; understand how the retail mode works and how we can actually pass on savings to our customers. We applied direct-to-home digital market business solution to be a last mile hygiene delivery company.

BRR: With competition from big brands how do you plan to stand out in terms of pricing?

TR: Our research on the pandemic shows that a family of four in Pakistan that is balancing hygiene with handwash and extra hygiene such as inculcating hand sanitizers in their lives to protect themselves and their families will be spending around Rs7000-8000 a month if they were to keep buying the 50ml classic brands of hand sanitizers. Our strategy effectively brought our business model to be at approximately 45 percent cheaper than the volume of a classic 50ml bottle of hand sanitizer in the market. On average, the price of a 50ml bottle of hand sanitizer of a classic brand is somewhere between Rs220-280.

BRR: Besides price, what is your USP?

TR: Of the 1000 hygiene brands that suddenly appeared during the pandemic, how do we become the distinguished one? We studied the manufacturing, production, scientific and the efficacy process, and we were not happy with the knowledge of understanding how denaturation works, which is the actual process behind what happens when you rub your hands as you use hygiene products like sanitizers. At the same time, there was a sudden rush for high alcohol content in sanitizers in the market, which is deeply skin drying and damaging and was an absolute turnoff for many people for trusting a hygiene product as a way of life. So, during the pandemic, we learnt about price gorging, skin discomfort, and economic discomfort, which made us conclude that the future of hygiene is not a sanitizer, but a human-friendly product that has additional properties that makes it pleasant and gratifying. So, our aim was not just the price point but to give a product that looks, feels and smells great and has high grade components. We didn’t want to compromise on quality by using harsh chemicals and ingredients to save on production costs. So, we decided to pursue the research of botanics derived from plant with medicinal, topical and mental elevation properties. It’s a simple question yet it was mind boggling for us that why don’t companies make sanitizers that are also skin and beauty friendly. However, we learnt that the meaning of hygiene changed completely during the pandemic and that offered us an opportunity to tap in.

Also, the traditional hand sanitizers are not designed for kids for habitual use as they strip away skin epidermis and layers that actually protect the skin form sun, environment and vicious radicals. We wanted to bring something that could address this area as well.

Similarly, a study showed that 90 percent of the middle to large hands were not 100 percent protected from 3ml of applied volume of hand sanitizer, which forced us to delve further into the hand anatomy and study the efficient volume needed for different hand sizes. We have an Effective Application Volume (EAV) Program according to which, an adult hand needs 4ml and a minimum of 20 sec hygiene protocol for one maximum protection. Based on this, we can actually run a hygiene costing in an organization.

The summary of what we have been able to achieve is that a family of four that subscribes to our KO/V home subscription service called “Sanity” gets a quality skin health product designed for hygiene delivered directly to their doorstep at a much affordable price.

BRR: Has your product received necessary approvals and certifications?

TR: We are close to the launch as we have been through all the necessary regulations and compliances requirements. Our product is backed by acute global research, along with knowledge sharing from a world working together during a pandemic. The pandemic is the world’s opportunity to reshape human lives positively. Our product has skin health properties immersed within the hygiene protocol of efficacy. We had our product tested and certified here in Pakistan, The PH level of our product is 6.03, which is milder than milk. And our hygiene protocol contains 70 percent alcohol with more water and botanic oils to delay evaporation and extend the hygiene protocol to last 20 seconds before evaporation.

After we got the testing and approval of our basic product done, we then developed more skin specific solutions.

BRR: What prospects do you think the manufacture of hygiene products like sanitizers are there in Pakistan?

TR: Pakistan is the fifth largest producer of ethanol globally. The explosion of the hygiene category presents the opportunity to position Pakistan as a global player in hygiene. Prior to the pandemic, there was $400 million worth of export revenue coming from ethanol that had little to no demand locally. Not only the ethanol prices have risen during the pandemic which would further boost export revenue, now the country has an opportunity to use its domestic production of ethanol to be part of a global value chain of high value-added finished product in the hygiene category such as high-quality sanitizers. There is not a great need to import massive amounts of IPA alcohol from China when Pakistan is the one of the world’s leading exporter of ethanol. And I believe that ethanol exports inherently benefit the sugarcane farmer because the intrinsic value of its product become “bio-diversified”. The farmer has a greater demand as his/her product i.e., sugar is not just required to feed the masses and drive the ethanol industry, but also be part of a story to create a demand for a Made in Pakistan finished product.

BRR: What’s next for you, and when do you plan to launch?

TR: Over the last two to three weeks, a significantly large interest has developed in what we are bringing to the table. We have been lucky to find likeminded people who actually had the same goal for public health at the start of the pandemic. We are very pleased that we are entering into an MoU with a Pakistan innovation company that has gone global during the pandemic in the public health category and this partnership will give us the scale through our shared message for public health. Once we get that sorted, we will announce our launch date soon.

I am thrilled that many big organizations and companies understand and have started to believe in our idea. We recently spoke to a large hotel group about how we can enhance contact-safer events and weddings beyond sanitizers on the table. Our proposal to them was one human life – one contact-safer tube which is good for 4-6 protections as we recommend to practice hygiene every half an hour in a high contact zone. The goal is to keep people safer, that’s why we learnt to map hygiene and technically innovated the world’s first hygiene mapping system for the human and human ecosystems, because that presents a clear picture to organizations on the cost of single protection for their staff or customers.

When they understand the costs better, they can communicate the value of that better to their customers to manage that cost and implement it. It is important to know how much it actually costs to make the world safer everyday. That’s why we mapped over 20 different human ecosystems, the human and the human family. Its a smart solution to help keeps businesses and schools open in Pakistan, so we can bring a human led normalcy and confidence back to the hearts and minds of Pakistan with a human product.