Faced with an unprecedented challenge due to a lack of demand for traditional coir products in the overseas market, the State-owned Coir Corporation has decided to go for rebranding of products to sustain the sector that employs thousands of people.
The corporation is set to rope in specialists from the National Institute of Design (NID), Bhopal to redesign existing products and create innovative products in line with market trends. G. Venugopal, chairman, Kerala State Coir Corporation (KSCC), says reinvention is the need of the hour. “The demand for traditional coir products such as fibre mats has declined drastically in Europe and other overseas markets following the COVID-19 pandemic. We should come up with products that are attractive and pass muster with overseas and domestic customers. Our efforts to revamp existing products, increase the production of items with sales potential and creation of new products will infuse a fresh lease of life into the coir sector,” says Mr. Venugopal.
