Innovation Is A Game Changer

Market News

Innovation Is A Game Changer

At the inaugural session of vTexShow, Mr V. K. Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, evinced keen interest in the work being done by Dhanesh Weaving to promote hemp textiles and products. Singh acknowledged that the ministry has not really focused on development of natural fibres. Hemp textiles was a game changer for Dhanesh Weaving. Narrates Sanjeev Bhartia, Marketing Director, Dhanesh Weaving, "Three years back, we started a division called Sustainable Division at Dhanesh Weaving. Here we started making various kinds of fabrics from silk, cotton, bamboo. Around that time, Bangalore Chamber of Commerce invited me to attend a seminar, where I was fortunate to meet the chief minister of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is into hemp cultivation, and the chief minister invited me to his state. This meeting set the ball rolling for our project in hemp, and there was no looking back. We buy some hemp from Uttarakhand, and other regions, and have developed some very interesting and innovative products with hemp fibre. Initially we were focussed on the domestic market, while exploring export markets. The lockdown was a boon for us. I was stranded in the US for five months during the lockdown, and I used this opportunity to explore the US market for our hemp products. USA is a large cultivator of hemp, but there is hardly any manufacturer of hemp fibre, yarn, textiles, there. When I showed our collections to the US buyers, they just lapped up the products. These buyers were surprised to learn that someone like us was doing such expensive, innovative hemp products." One more game changer for Dhanesh Weaving was another innovation that the company invested in - 100% hemp needlepunch fabric, and blends with wool, silk, bamboo, etc, too. Dhanesh Weaving has reported very good response to this product in just a few days of its launch in September. "Weaving is our forte. But we have now also ventured into knitted fabrics, and knit products. We have tied up with many good companies in India to accelerate our production. We are striving to become one of the top companies in the world in the hemp space and I am confident of achieving this goal," said Bhartia. He further stated, "We would probably have struggled to survive had we not changed our product line. We would not have survived if we had not gone into different markets. Explore new markets, new products, there is no competition in that space, no price comparison at all. And that is the key to our success. The takeaway for the industry from our experience should be that innovation changed everything for us during this pandemic. It was like cracking a code to stay relevant. And we are doing extremely well." Dhanesh Weaving will officially launch its hemp product line in the Indian market next month, and will also move into online marketing.