THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kudumbashree Mission is planning to collaborate with fair trade enterprises in the country to promote the Kudumbashree branded products like cotton apparels, Kudumbashree Mission State Executive Director Sarada Muraleedharan said. ‘Shop for Change’, a fair trade enterprise, has expressed interest and discussions are on in this regard, she said at the preview meet organised prior to the first-of-its-kind community branding of Kudumbashree products to be held in the city for two days from Friday.Kudumbashree had decided to brand four types of products - apparels, food products, traditional health products and hygiene products. The state-level consortium of Kudumbashree apparel units have already launched its men’s and women’s range of apparels branded ‘Napstar’ and ‘Kadambari’ respectively."There are more than 40,000 products being manufactured under the umbrella of Kudumbashree, however, it is failing to make its mark in the market. Our products have quality, the traditional taste and richness they calls for, yet they cannot compete in the open market. That’s when we decided to go for branding. When community branding is done, it not just creates a group of sellers, but creates consumers too within the local network, which would enhance local economy,’’ said Sarada Muraleedharan.Under the micro-enterprises, many Kudumbashree units are engaged in the manufacturing of traditional food products. "Nutrimix, which is one of the successful products of Kudumbashree, is being made by 44 units. So why not bring it under a community branding? But the same does not apply to pickles. It is the variety that is the success of our pickle products. We cannot kill its essence by asking them to stick to a common taste. As of now, we have brought under community branding those products that come under the four categories,’’ she said.When asked why Kudumbashree brands could not go for government supply chains like Supplyco or Consumerfed, Sarada said that it has been tested and found to be ineffective."We found our products not making an impact among the hugely-marketed products. We are not ready for retails too, as it would require products to be manufactured in a huge scale,’’ she said.The expo, that will be held at the Panchayat Association Hall here on Friday and Saturday, is mainly to give the message to merchants and traders that Kudumbashree community brands could be tested and tasted. The expo would provide opportunities for the Kudumbashree entrepreneurs to meet traders and ink agreements if willing for marketing ties.
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