From the unique craftsmanship of Kondapalli and Etikopakka toys to the heady aroma of Araku coffee and the timeless weaves of AP, the stalls put up during the three-day CII Partnership Summit at the Harbour Park Grounds were a big hit with the delegates who arrived here from across India and 40 countries.
Several delegates took the time off during the breaks from back-to-back sessions and headed to the exhibition area to get the taste of the best of what Andhra Pradesh had to offer.
“I loved the intricately made handicrafts of the State and have picked up a few Kondapalli toys as souvenirs. The coffee, too, had a very unique taste. We had a great stay in the city and loved it for its natural beauty, well-planned and clean roads,” said Julian, one of the delegates from UK. Some of the foreign delegates also picked up handloom textiles from the APCO stall.
The Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society, popularly known as APCO, Lepakshi and Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) collectively made sales of ₹7 lakh in the three days of the summit. “We made sales of ₹3.7 lakh during the summit. This year’s event has been very encouraging for us and we also received several enquiries for outside State orders,” said Dayanand Kumar, a staff member of Lepakshi.
APCO sales
APCO made sales of around ₹1.5 lakh this year. “Even foreigners picked up material from the stall. The major demand was for sarees like Mangalagiri, Pochampalli, Venkatgiri, Uppada, Guntur and Rajamahendravaram cotton,” said S. Lalitha, an APCO employee.
GCC’s Araku coffee was an instant hit with the delegates. The corporation sold coffee worth ₹2 lakh during the past three days of the summit. “A lot of people wanted to try the samples of our Araku valley instant coffee that launched last month,” said A S P S Ravi Prakash, managing director of GCC. The corporation’s next offering would be the jackfruit wine, which is now at the testing phase.
