Honasa Consumer appoints Kaustav Guha as vice president, R&D

With an aim to strengthen its research and development (R&D) capabilities, Honasa Consumer, the parent company of beauty and personal care brand Mamaearth, has appointed Kaustav Guha as vice president of research & development.

An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Guha will lead the company's R&D initiatives and product formulations across Honasa's portfolio of brands, which include Aqualogica, The Derma Co, Bblunt, Dr Sheth's and Staze.

Guha has earlier been with personal care brands Marico and L'oreal. In his latest stint, he was with Fireside Ventures-backed ayurveda-focused brand Nat Habit.


Commenting on the appointment, Honasa's cofounder and chief innovation officer Ghazal Alagh, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Dr Kaustav Guha at Honasa Consumer. His extensive experience and expertise will be instrumental as we develop the next generation of skincare solutions for our consumers.”

The development comes close on the heels of the Gurugram-based company's acquisition of CosmoGenesis Labs, which it bought to increase focus on its research capabilities.

The attempt to strengthen its R&D and product development capabilities is taking place in the backdrop of negative consumer feedback for Mamaearth's product quality.

In June, after a user of microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) posted a criticism of Mamaearth products, Alagh responded to the user saying, "Quality on @mamaearthindia is my personal guarantee, and I am here to address each and every concern that you, or anyone on Twitter might have".

Earlier this month, Honasa Consumer saw its chief product and technology officer Jayant Chauhan resign from his position.