In home furnishings, the demand for crochet products like table covers, table runners, placemats,
and cushions are on the rise, especially in Europe, Turkey and Scandinavian countries. Being
a handcraft, India is a major sourcing destination and Narsapur in west Godavari region of
Andhra Pradesh, which is known for crochet skills, has received global acclaim for its intricate
craftsmanship, unique designs, good quality and competitive prices. Team Apparel Online talks to a
few exporters in the region to understand how this local craft is now a global phenomenon…
Crochet was evolved
in 18th century by
local Irish womenfolk
and later became
an exclusive art achieving
popularity in Europe and
America. The craft was
brought to India in the early
20th century by missionaries
from Scotland and today
Andhra Pradesh is a strong
centre for intricate handmade
crocheted lace-work. Districts of
Narsapur, Mogaltur, Palakollu,
Kommuchikkala, Bhimavaram,
Tellapudi, Perupalem, Rajolu,
Amalapuram, Sakinetipalli,
Gannavaram, and regions of
west and east Godavari, boast of
over 100,000 home-based women
artisans engaged in lace product
creations. The turnover of the
Narsapur lace cluster in 2010-
11 was around Rs. 100 crore
through exports alone. More than
80% of this artwork is exported
to USA, Europe and Japan.
Major domestic markets
include Mumbai, Delhi,
Kolkata and Tirupur.
Though the region is
catering to the best of
buyers, the business
is not organized and
almost every household
in the villages in and
around the towns is
engaged in producing
crochet items for
exporters who give them orders and specifications
which they get from their buying
offices. To promote and sustain
the crochet industry, the Pan
Godavari Lace Facilities
and Services was established
under aegis of Development
Commissioner (Handicrafts),
Ministry of Textiles
Government of India under
Comprehensive Handicrafts
Cluster Development Scheme
(CHCDS), created to scale
up the infrastructure and
production chain at handicrafts
clusters. “The Development
Commissioner (Handicrafts)
is set upon promoting the
Narsapur cluster and is
developing an International
Marketing Centre at Narsapur
as one of the initiatives under
the Mega Cluster Scheme,”
shares K.N. Tulasi, Managing
Director, Pan Godavari. He
adds, “The objective is to
provide a fresh impetus to
these long traditional heritage
and cultural linkages. Through
this program, Pan Godavari
supports the upgradation of
infrastructural facilities coupled
with market linkages and
product diversification.”
Pan Godavari is looking at
aiding artisans, manufacturers
and exporters of Narsapur
and nearby areas of east and
west Godavari regions to
improve networking, assist in design-driven marketing
requirements, catalogue design,
portfolio enhancement, brand
development and promotional
activities. “The international
marketing centre will act
as a buying agency and will
consolidate supplies from various
Narsapur based manufacturers
and supply to brands/ importers/
wholesalers/retailers/ stores,
etc.,” informs Tulasi. With the
craft becoming an in demand
product, the Development
Commissioner and his dedicated
team are very upbeat of the
success.
In the meanwhile, exporters
working in the area have already
seen growth. Dharnidhar
Cottage Crafts, an export house
based in Narsapur, producing
crochet lace products like
table cloth, cushion and pillow covers, table cloth and napkins,
is catering to buyers in UK,
Australia, Greece, Germany,
Norway and USA. A few buyers
to which the export house is
catering to are Global Imports –
Canada, Nordekas – Germany
and Glitter Inc – Greece. M.T.
Naidu, the Owner of the
company while interacting with
Apparel Online shared that
around 1000 villagers are hand
knitting crochet products for
him. “If orders are as small, say
500 pieces of cushion covers,
we can execute the same in
10 to 12 days. The demand for
our products is on the rise and
recently we received an enquiry
from an Italian buyer for crochet
products and have already
started the sampling. With
regard to design, we work both
the ways; we convert products
as per buyer’s designs and also
create our own designs and
present to our buyers; most of
the time they approve it with
minor changes.” The crochet
products are made in natural
white colour and also with dyed
yarn. These days’ buyers are
also asking for using fabric with
the crochet work.
Though handcrafted, the FOB
rates are not very high for
crochet products. This is a major
constraint in the growth of the
industry. “The FOB rate of a
rectangular table cloth, 35 cm X 45 cm is between 80 cents to
one dollar. If it’s a multi-colour
table cloth which is more in
demand these days, then FOB
rate would be US $ 1.5,” shares
Saibaba A.V.V.S, Managing
Partner, Imperial Lace
Exports, producer and exporter
of table linen, bed linen, etc.
Another concern is the lead time,
though buyers are not pushing
for shorter lead times. “In
Narsapur, the families take the
raw material from contractors
and make crochet items at home.
There is no direct contact and
the exporters given the raw
material to contractors; these
contractors pass it on to sub
contractors who then give the
raw material and specifications
to villagers. Because of this the
lead times are pretty long; it
takes almost 140-150 days but buyers are ok with that. Europe
and Turkey buyers are sourcing
these products through us,”
informs Lalit Kitroo, Director –
Sourcing, McCoy Sourcing.
Catering to buying offices like
William E Connor, Li & Fund,
McCoy Sourcing, Speciality,
Sri Devi Exports is producing
crochet home décor products
like curtains, cushions,
bedspreads and coverlets
through 200 villagers. According
to Shiva Hemdev, the Owner
of the company, the buying
offices which are procuring
products are concerned with
the quality of the end product,
though they do not fuss about
the social compliances. Rather
they are happy that so many
women folks are actually
earning their livelihood through
them sitting at home. However,
with wider employment
opportunity the landscape
is changing. “Though the
Government has come forward
to save this skill through
various schemes, females are no
more staying back home, they
are willing to move out of their
houses and join other industries
for better wages,” says Shiva.
Corroborating Shiva’s views,
P. Ramachandra Murthy,
Owner, P Veeralah Co. says
that for the village woman, this
art is something which they only do when they are free from
household chores; they cannot
dedicate more than 3 to 4 hours
in a day; they treat it as a hobby
and are happy with the money
they make out of the hobby.
This is an area which Pan
Godavari is working on, so that
the artisans take the craft more
seriously.
Manufacturers of handmade
cotton crochet products, Swarna
& Co, Narsapur produces a wide
range in crochet which includes
bed linen, table cloths, bags and
household textiles; the company
supplies its products to buyers
in the US, Europe and South
America. As per, A.S.V. Babu,
Managing Partner, Swarna
& Co., there is a huge demand
of multicolour products in the
international market right now
and buyers like Japan, Chile,
UK, US and Scandinavia are
showing keen interest in crochet
in recent years, following which
there has been a good demand
of crochet in these regions
and enquiries are coming in
from new bases as well. “We
are now looking for buyers in
new market regions like Brazil
and Turkey for expansion. We
are even entering into fabric
manufacturing in 2013 as part
of our expansion,” avers Babu.
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