I travelled here with Toni (our man in Spain) from Bali on Wednesday. After an emotional farewell from Ringo and Bondhan, we took an afternoon flight to Kuala Lumpur and changed for the late-night flight to Kolkata. Arriving just after midnight India time. It was strangely cold, I have never felt chilly in India, but Chatterjee (our man in India) was waiting with a warm welcome.

Last week I was telling you about the interesting election unfolding in Indonesia with "Trust Me" posters.. if you want to catch up here is the link.

The first job yesterday
was to go and visit the factory, and review production and see if we can create some new products. We'd already sent Chatterjee and his team a selection of bags purchased in Spain for inspiration and development. So we should be off to a good start... 

Arriving at the factory, where we were treated to the usual welcome party of all the staff.. almost 40 people doing the Namaste, nice but I always think - slightly embarrassing. 

I was last here in August 2023, and the products we developed and ordered then are still in process. Some have been shipped and some are yet to be shipped, we were able to do random QC checks and I'm pleased to report the quality is excellent. I'm really excited by the products that are on the way to the UK now... 

Drishanta, Mr Chatterjee's son has had a big impact on the business and fresh ideas and a younger outlook are really making a difference. He gave Toni a tour of the factory.

It's a twenty-year anniversary... I just realised that the first time I came to this town was 20 years ago. I remember asking Mr Chatterjee if we could visit a Jute farmer, and see how jute was produced after we went to an ancient British era Jute mill, and we were one of the first UK companies to import all natural Jute bags to the UK. Mr Chatterjee keeps a picture of that visit in his office.

So Toni is getting quite over-enthusiastic in the Chatterjee factory - working with the pattern guys here.. developing samples at a furious pace - bursting with ideas and creativity.

It's really good to have fresh eyes on the job. He is connecting with his team in Spain and getting our designers there involved. But we have started way too many projects, and time is limited... 

Thank you to everyone who answered our survey questions! It's really useful when you give feedback and direction. I already learned a lot from your responses, and already today acting on your suggestions and ideas.  It's not too late to add your voice... "Help us choose products" link.. it only takes 5 minutes and helps us serve you (and your customers) better and better. 

I was really interested to see how many of you are interested in us sourcing more Indian products.. 52% which is encouraging. So here we are working on it.

Birmingham Trade Show

If you are going.. enjoy it,  but you won't see AW there. Regular readers and customers know why. If you don't know - it's because AW is something different to all the other wholesalers - find the answer here...

It's almost Valentine's Day - here in India they call it V-Day.. back in the EU, it's all go.. as Valentine's Day gift season kicks off the Season of Love. It's all gone seriously PINK.. check out the V-Day Department at AW for the best fast-selling products anywhere!

More details are below...

Take care - hope trade is booming.

More news next week as we travel around India. 

Namaste

David