It was the late 1960s, Dr. VP Sidhan worked as an Allopathic doctor for the Indian Railways.
However, he came from the respected Cholayil family of Ayurvedic practitioners and also had a deep knowledge of Ayurveda.
Dr. VP Sidhan saw that the workers who cleaned waste off the railway tracks suffered from several skin diseases.
He felt really bad for them and started giving them an Ayurvedic oil to cure their skin diseases.
The Ayurvedic oil was extremely effective and healed the skin disorders of several patients.
As his Ayurvedic oil started gaining popularity his friends advised him to turn it into a soap. They felt it would be a great skincare solution and also be easier to use.
Dr VP Sidhan liked the idea and started making soaps in 1969. He named his soap brand “Medimix”.
Initially, the soaps were available only as prescribed products in a very few pharmacies in Chennai.
Soon, the word about the effectiveness of the soap spread and Dr. VP Sidhan seeing it as a good business opportunity launched it for the public.
The Medimix soaps were unique as they were completely handmade unlike most other soap brands in India.
In its early advertisements, Medimix used the tagline “Doctors Prescribe” which gave genuineness to the product.
Dr. VP Sidhan also focused on selling soaps to hotels. This move made the brand popular among people who visited hotels frequently and helped in adding new customers.
Medimix is more than 50 years old now and has continued to grow over the decades. It has also launched other personal care products like hand wash, face wash, body wash, etc.
Today, Medimix exports to more than 30 countries and is the largest selling handmade Ayurvedic soap brand globally.
