using silver but we continued using
zinc, which is safe.
more eco-friendly at dyeing process,
irrespective of yarn or fabrics.
Our material performs a well
cooling function. We don't need to
turn on air conditioners to lower
temperature because our nylon yarn
can reduce the room temperature by
around 3-4 degree Celsius, depending
on fabrics construction; plane surface
is usually appreciated. It helps
reduce the heat and lowers energy
consumption. If we wear this garment
outside in high temperature, it is not
easy to feel the cooling because of the
hot environment. If the fabric is too
heavy, it is difficult to feel cool.
Do you think that other companies
are also into similar business
concept?
Most of our competitors sell only
one function yarn, i.e., they do not
have a single yarn with combined
qualities. Our yarn works as an
auto coolant and is UV protective,
microbe free and odourless.
Customers using this yarn can have
a different marketing strategy for
selling. They don’t need to change
the yarn or worry about its quality.
Earlier, we used to face challenges
as people used to question us for not
What will be the future trend?
Functional textiles will be a popular
trend in the future. There is not much
business in the textile industry as it
was before because of the economy. If
the economy is not well, people will
not buy garments of high quality.
Garment manufacturers are not
our only buyers. Our selling market
is huge and variant. Some customers
buy yarn from us to make innerwear
for older Japanese people. We also
provide cooling yarn and far infra-
red (FIR) yarn to Indonesian mattress
manufacturers and stand out from
other players in functional yarn.
Does India seem to be a potential
market in the future?
We have been to South Asia,
including India, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh, twice in the past two
years. Price is a problem. Not only
our company but other companies
who have been to South Asia agree
with us and are facing similar
difficulties. Indian yarn manufacturers
have found something interesting
about our yarn; they want to blend
yarn and work with us. May be by
the end of this year, the Chinese
Government will announce a policy.
There will be a potential market not
only in China but the entire Asia.
What percentage of your sales is
through brick and mortar?
The most efficient way to do
promotion is the traditional one.
Customers do come from Taiwanese
trade websites and we also have
Alibaba, from where we get a small
number of customers. The most
efficient customers come from trade
shows and our agents in the US and
European markets know that. We go
to China, Korea, Sri Lanka and India
for trade shows. Our supply chain is
very simple. We review it in a quarter
or every six months to know the price
of production. Our chairman Tony Kuo
has a lot of experience and contacts
in the industry. He has now been
in the functional textile industry for
almost 10 years. We highly welcome
customers who would like to discuss
this with us so as to collect first hand
information from market quickly.
What is the USP of your products?
The yarn has a variety of applications
and we use liquid zinc oxide in
manufacturing which is different
from using powder material. By using
liquid zinc oxide, it can be embedded
in to masterbatch equally and raise
production rate at spinning, weaving,
and also dyeing process. Our technology
offers many benefits for our customers.
Which are your major international
markets? Are you planning to expand
to any other regions in the near
future?
We still stick to the United States,
Europe and are focusing now on China
and South East Asia. We are still studying
the Indian market. India is very big and
we need more information to enter
India. We need a reliable agent. We
have decided to start with Sri Lanka.
What are your growth expectations
from the company for the next two
fiscals?
We are looking at 30-40 per cent
growth. Last year, the rise was
twice more because there was a
big requirement and we got good
business. This year, however, the textile
industry is not doing well. We hope for
good business next year.