We have positioned ourselves as a one-stop destination in hemp textiles
India-based Texventures LLP specialises in the manufacturing and exporting of a wide range of textile products, including but not limited to home textiles, apparel fabrics, and industrial fabrics. The company has been in operation since 2008 and has grown into a reputable brand within the textile industry. It is committed to providing high-quality textile products to customers worldwide, with a strong focus on innovation, sustainability, and customer satisfaction. Speaking to Fibre2Fashion, Managing Partner Siddharth Mehta talks about sustainable fabrics, and awareness of hemp and linen.
How would you describe the market for sustainable fabrics in India and abroad?
As per a UN Panel report, we are likely to breach critical threshold for global warming within the next decade. The Earth has already warmed an average of 1.1° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Global warming needs to be maintained below 1.5° Celsius, beyond which there would be irreversible damages.
This creates a scary situation and as the general populace is made more aware of such reports, the demand for sustainability will rise. We now see sustainable alternatives gaining more attention in every industry, be it automotives, food, packaging, construction or textiles.
No doubt, the sustainability market in developed countries is much more progressed than in India, but with the increasing awareness we are seeing many new startups and even established organisations pushing for sustainable fabrics.
How is the supply side of the sustainable fibre industry?
Sustainable fibres like linen, organic cotton and lyocell have been around in textiles for a long time and have stable supply chain.
There are many sustainable fibres that have recently gained traction like hemp, banana, orange, milk etc. We are trying to setup a stable supply chain for hemp and keep ready stock at no MOQs (Minimum Order Quantity) as an additional support to the market.
Fibres like banana, orange etc are yet to find consistent supply chain setup that can support their growth and thereby help in spreading awareness.
What are the major growth drivers for hemp?
The major factor supporting the growth will be the shift of consumer preference towards organic alternatives in food and clothing. We are offering a whole array of textile products in India with our linen and hemp fibres, yarns, and fabrics, with sustainability focus on hemp.
Textile being the 2nd largest industry in India has the scope to catapult popularity of hemp. Once the consumer starts switching to hemp in clothing, awareness about the varied uses and benefits of hemp will spread rapidly and its adoption will increase in every industry.
From the consumer’s point of view, hemp is highly breathable and absorbs water as rapidly as it releases it and has an insulating effect in winters making it a great choice for year-wide usage. Hemp is also inherently anti-microbial and gives UV protection while having great colour depth that is bound to make heads turn.
What is the USP of hemp and linen, when it comes to sustainability?
Both hemp and linen can be grown with fewer pesticides and fertilisers than other crops, which reduces the impact on the environment. Hemp in particular, requires very little water to grow.
Both these fibres are also known for their strength and durability, which means they can last longer and require less frequent replacement.
Hemp can grow in very tight spaces and therefore gives much higher yield per acre than other fibres. It also breathes in 4x higher CO2 levels as compared to trees, thereby working towards reversing global warming.
Hemp also absorbs toxic chemicals from the soil where it is grown through a process called phytoremediation. One such example is the Chernobyl site where hemp was used to clean the heavy metals and toxins from the soil.
How is Texventures positioned in the hemp-based product market?
Being pioneers in bringing quality and consistent bulk supply of hemp yarns in India, we have positioned ourselves as a one-stop destination in hemp textiles.
Apart from bringing steady supply, we have also worked on building the market for hemp by visiting weavers, process houses, garment factories, and worked at the grassroot level to educate people about hemp and the techniques required to make quality end products. We have conducted a lot of trials and spent the better part of 2017 finetuning the manufacturing process so that we can offer quality sustainable fabrics in the market.
Our experience in the linen yarns industry is helping us a lot through this journey.
Our fabrics division under Mehta Fabrics and Yarns LLP, has 150+ hemp fabrics, ranging from 90 gsm to 300 gsm, already in circulation. Our client base ranges from individual designers to SMEs to major garment brands in India.
We make fabrics suitable for apparel, home furnishings and accessories sectors in 100 per cent hemp, and their blends with cotton, lyocell and bamboo.
What are the constraints in using hemp and linen for making fabrics and garments? How can they be overcome?
While hemp and linen fibres are strong, durable, and resistant to wear and tear, they can also be brittle and difficult to weave, so certain specialised changes are required. Even processing must be done in a controlled manner and is not as streamlined as in the case of cotton or polyester.
Linen has been around for quite long and has been mastered in weaving and processing, but hemp requires a little more expertise, which over the years we have perfected through repeated trial and errors.
Another challenge is that both these fabrics are more expensive than synthetic or cotton fabrics due to the cost of production and the limited availability of the raw materials. This can narrow down the market size a bit but will slowly be overcome as the demand rises and the supply, in turn, increases to match it.
What is your annual production capacity?
We are associated with one of the major linen and hemp yarn spinners in the world: KINGDOM Holdings Limited, Hong Kong, having a capacity of 20,000 tons of 100 per cent linen yarn and 4,000 tons of 100 per cent hemp yarn per annum.
This provides us the strength to capture and generate demand, based on steady supply. We currently supply to major brands like Raymond, Arvind, Grasim, D’décor, House of Anita Dongre, and also cover most hemp startups in India.
Which are your major markets in India and abroad?
Our Indian customer base is very diverse from Karur in the south to Kolkata in the Northeast.
With us having played a major role in the growth of hemp market, awareness of our brand has increased over time, and we have demand coming in from most states as more companies look for sustainable fabrics.
We have even launched a brand ‘The Hemp Studio’ and a web portal for our domestic and international customers to reach us efficiently. In the new avatar, apart from retaining B2B business, we now cater to the B2C too.
Outside of India, we have already tapped into South America, North America, the UAE and more, where we collaborate with wholesalers to expand our reach.
What are your sustainability goals for the next five years?
Our primary goal for the next five years is to push hemp to the masses. Linen is a well-established market already, but hemp is at a nascent stage and currently adopted by a small number of people as compared to linen.
We aim to keep adding new fabrics in our hemp portfolio and increase stock to support the Indian market, while also expanding our reach globally.
