Khadi board’s ‘Sakhavu’ fails to impress in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Khadi board’s ‘Sakhavu’ brand of shirts does not seem to have struck a chord with even the hard-core comrades in the state. The board could only sell about 1,300 such shirts since the brand was launched during the 2018 Onam season.
As per the data submitted in the assembly last week by industries minister P Rajeeve, khadi has so far received only Rs 11.31 lakh from the sales of this particular brand. That means, only around 1,300 shirts were sold by khadi under this brand, given that this particular brand of shirts are priced in the range of Rs 700 to Rs 1,000. However, to a question on what was the government’s sales expectation for this particular brand, the minister said the board had not set any profit target while launching this brand. He further said the board will give priority to selling this particular brand if there is more demand for the product, as its intention was only to popularise khadi among the general public.
Meanwhile, Kerala khadi and village industries board secretary K A Retheesh said the number of shirts sold under the brand was not miniscule, as ‘Sakhavu’ brand is only one of the several brands of shirts brought out by khadi. “In the last two years, sales were seriously hit due to the floods and pandemic. We are slowly picking up the sales this year,” he said.
He said khadi also intends to undertake widespread marketing and value addition to the existing services to catch up with the changing times. “The board has decided to launch new shops in all taluk headquarters with private participation that will include facilities for stitching, laundry services, etc. Along with this, all products will also be promoted more actively,” he said.
Despite the excuses, the number of shirts sold under ‘Sakhavu’ brand seems to be less, given that the government was giving special focus on marketing khadi products and its products, including shirts which are available for sale online. Khadi board vice-chairperson Shobhana George had claimed while launching the brand in August 2018 that the brand name was introduced as a marketing strategy for khadi to attract the younger generation towards its products. The name ‘Sakhavu’ that has Communist connection was seemingly launched with a motive to capitalize on the prevailing political environment in the state.
Khadi has apparel products under multiple brand names at present. It includes Khadi Cool, Leader, Milleni, Summer Cool, Sakhavu, Sundari Pattu, Payyanur Pattu, Sreekrishnapuram Pattu and Ananthapuri Silks.