Radico

Radico is an Indian hair-care company specialising in natural and organic hair colour, founded in 1992 by Sanjeev Bhatt and headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh [1]. The company built its range around henna and other Ayurvedic plants rather than the conventional chemistry of permanent dyes, and it describes itself as a pioneer in natural and organic hair colours and hair care. Its products are sold in more than 100 countries, with subsidiaries in the United States and Romania.

The brand remains active. Its US arm published organic hair-colour content and top-selling-shade figures covering the 2024–2025 period, and its products carry current organic and safety certifications [12].

Radico was established in 1992 by Sanjeev Bhatt, who holds an MBA completed in 1985 and had worked for established Indian and international companies before starting out on his own. According to the company, the idea grew from the henna of his hometown, Faridabad, and from watching Western markets move toward natural products. Rather than launch a dye at home first, Bhatt began abroad, introducing temporary henna tattoos in the United States [9].

The company frames the early years as a slow progression from that starting point toward a genuinely natural colour. Bhatt has said the product was rejected many times before overseas buyers accepted it, and he has described a personal method built on "patience, perseverance and practice" [10].

Radico's development is usually told as a sequence of formulation steps spread across two decades. After the 1992 henna tattoos, the company introduced a range it called "Close to Natural" in 1997 — described as roughly 50 to 60 percent natural, and notable for needing only water rather than peroxide to make the paste. In 2003 it launched SUNAB, marketed as a fully natural hair colour. In 2012, after what the company describes as nearly ten years of research and development, it released a certified organic hair colour that began with ten shades and later expanded to 24 formulations [4].

Radico USA was incorporated separately on 25 September 2002 [7]. The founder has also collected personal honours over the years, including the title of honorary professor from the Oxford Academic Union in the United Kingdom in 2016 [9].

Radico's core lines are its certified organic colour, sold as Colour Me Organic, and the earlier SUNAB colour, both built on natural herbs. MADE SAFE, a certification body, describes Colour Me Organic as a semi-permanent hair colour made from organic plant pigments that react with the proteins in grey and white hair [8]. Alongside colour, the company sells herbal hair and scalp care and lists ingredients such as amla, bhringraj, brahmi, neem, reetha, shikakai, henna and indigo.

The company positions its formulas against conventional dye chemistry, saying they are free from PPD, PAP, ammonia and resorcinol. It presents its work as a blend of modern research with traditional Ayurvedic knowledge, and manufactures in India, with a corporate office and factory in Noida and a distribution warehouse in Faridabad [11].

Radico sums up its outlook in the phrase "Organic is Real Natural," and states a mission to develop all-natural hair colour and treatment solutions that use no chemical additives or animal testing. On its company profile it lists values including honesty, ethics, transparency and long-term association. The company has also described itself as focused entirely on natural and organic hair colour, a claim that reflects its own positioning rather than an independent market ranking.

A central and repeated claim is that Radico produced the first single-step, 100-percent-natural hair colour in the world to receive organic certification from ECOCERT, the France-based certifier [7]. The same "first in the world" wording appears across the brand's own materials and in independent Indian editorial coverage, though it originates with the company [11]. Radico's Colour Me Organic line is also listed as MADE SAFE certified and, per that listing, holds ECOCERT Cosmos Organic, USDA Organic and a vegan trademark [8].

The company states that it opposes animal testing and sources renewable organic ingredients from certified farms. It describes its products as safe, healthy and free from harmful chemicals, consistent with the wider clean-beauty and Ayurvedic positioning that third-party listings associate with the brand.

Radico's colours were verified as "Very Good" by the German consumer-testing organisation ÖKO-TEST in 2016, for its Brown and Auburn Red shades [7]. Indian business coverage also records a Best Performance in Quality award from the Council of International Award in the United Kingdom in 2003, and an Eco-Excellence Award in 2017 [11]. The company has been profiled in Indian outlets including Open Magazine and SiliconIndia, both covering its history, certifications and global distribution.

Radico is active as of the mid-2020s. The company reports distribution across more than 100 countries and operates subsidiaries in the United States and Romania. Its US site published sales figures and organic-colour content for the March 2024 to March 2025 period, indicating continued commercial operation [12].