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.
[bleft]“Normally half kg of yarn is given to each villager. They are given 20 days’ lead time to make the products but they normally stretch it to 30 days.”SAIBABAImperial Lace Exports [/bleft]
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.
[bleft]“If 200 crochet hand knitters are given an order of say 1000 bedcovers, the lead times for this kind of order is generally 3-4 months.”SHIVA HEMDEV Sri Devi Exports [/bleft]
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.
