We came home.
And began to build.

Our wish to create opportunity in Konkan began before Sugandha. In 2008, we started Yuvalakshya, an initiative teaching coding skills to young people in the region. A software venture followed. Infrastructure challenges brought that chapter to a close; photography and Paithani clothing became other parts of our journey.

Each venture changed how we thought about building a business. The question endured: how could the skills we had gained become useful in the place we called home?

Eventually, that question brought us to the land.

We began with lemongrass: growing it, harvesting it and learning to extract its aromatic oil through steam distillation. The work connected us to something very immediate—the relationship between a crop, a season and the oil it yields.

There were harvests to understand, equipment to learn and batches to improve. Progress came through doing the work, then returning to do it better.

That first crop remains at the heart of Sugandha. It is where our understanding of fragrance began.

Distilling oil opened another possibility: creating finished products here, with a character of their own. Lemongrass essential oil led us towards soaps, home fragrance and everyday rituals.

Growing, distilling, making, packing and serving customers each require different skills. Bringing these activities together is central to what we are building in Konkan.

A bar of soap may be a small object. Behind it is a much longer story of people learning to make something well.

Sugandha is built with people from Konkan. Our local team works across the farm, distillation, soap making, packing and customer care. Their hands and growing experience are part of the house we are creating.

For us, building a business here means creating paid work and practical skills here. It means developing the ability to take an idea from the field to a finished product.

Our responsibility grows with the business: to the people doing the work, and to the customers placing their trust in it.