Sustainability NOW: The Age of Conscious Consumerism

Aman Gupta is the Founder of Zero Percent India. Zero Percent is a mindful lifestyle business focused on making it easier for consumers to drink less alcohol and animal products, eat less meat and more organic and consume less sugar. The vision of Zero Percent is to represent the leading brands in the categories of 0% alcohol, 0% dairy, 0% pesticides, 0% sugar, 0% gluten, 0% meat, 0% microplastic and fine waters and make these brands easily accessible to consumers in order to consume healthier and be happier. Aman is also a majority shareholder of Third Culture Group Oy, which owns and operates the brands VEEN, Nordic Mixers, Ayur Atmospherics and Zero Percent. Before he entered the water business, Aman had his eye on the hospitality industry. He grew up in Mumbai and went on to study in Switzerland for an Associate Degree of Hotel Management and Swiss Hospitality Diploma at Schiller International University in Engelberg. Gupta pursued his Bachelors of Hotel Management at Australian International Hotel School, Canberra, Australia (in affiliation with Cornell University), followed by a Masters Diploma in Business at Middlesex University London. What followed was a decade of enriching work experience at some of the world’s finest hotels in Sydney, Las Vegas, and London. In 2007, Gupta spearheaded the launch of Napket, a premium delicatessen in London, during his stint as GM of Snob food. Led by his innate entrepreneurial acumen, Gupta founded Liquid Lust Ltd, a UK-based distribution company of unique non-alcoholic beverage brands before acquiring VEEN in January 2012. He continues to lead as Founder & Managing Director of Third Culture Group Oy, which owns and operates VEEN, Nordic Mixers, Ayur Atmospherics and Zero Percent. Having lived between eight countries, Aman is truly a third culture citizen, with an acute interest in travelling, gourmet food, fine wines and exploring new cultures. When he’s not at work, he strives to master his skills at yoga and meditation and living the zero percent lifestyle.

Vivek Sahni studied Economics at Delhi University and then an Associate Degree in Communications Design from Parsons School of Design in New York. After moving back to India, he started his eponymous design company Vivek Sahni Design in 1993 which Specialized in communications, product and environmental design. He co-founded Kama Ayurveda in 2002 and is responsible for the brand's tremendous success both in India as well as International markets. Today Kama Ayurveda stands for authentic Ayurvedic beauty and wellness products, and is available at over 59+ standalone stores, with 150+ SKU’s across skin hair and body. Their products are available www.kamaayurveda.com, and partner websites like Nykaa and Amazon. Kama Ayurveda is also present in leading hotels including Park, Trident and Roseate and partner stores like Shoppers Stop and Central. Vivek is passionate about design and the environment. He uses design in its infinite forms across technology, to supply chain, to product, package and store design to create a new kind of company.

Saritha Sudhakaran is an urban design consultant and founder of incollab - a planning and research do-lab developing sustainable communities in collaboration with the people who inhabit them. Saritha's work spans diverse fields such as sustainable mobility, transport, health, education, policy, public spaces, architecture and waste management. In 2017, she was appointed as a planning advisor by the Goa Waste Management Corporation in the preparation of waste management plans for 2 pilot villages. She founded the Waste Less Project in January 2019 with the aim to create awareness on waste reduction through collective knowledge-reduction process. The 12-week Project is a structured guide that provides local, adaptable and scalable alternatives to unsustainable consumption choices, thereby encouraging consumers to reconsider the definition of waste. Through its numerous awareness sessions the Project is not successfully championing the argument for waste minimisation with community-level interactions and collaborations across India.