Having recorded an impressive profit and rising birth rate in the US, Kerala based leading infant wear exporter ‘Kitex’ is all set to launch its own brand ‘Little Star’ in the US and Canada this autumn.
The company, which has emerged as a major supplier to several infant wear global brands such as Carters, Gerber, Mothercare, Jockey and Toys R Us, is in the process of launching its own infant wear brand ‘Little Star’ in US market by October, 2016, said Sabu M Jacob, chairman and managing director said in company’s annual report released yesterday.
Kitex, which was founded in 1992, entered into a license agreement in September 2015 through KITEX USA LLC, with Lamaze International Inc., USA for manufacture and supply of Infant garments in US and Canada, Jacob said projecting the target of achieving a Y-o-Y growth of 20 per cent in FY16-17 by expanding its customer base and increasing the business share with existing customers.
Kitex makes garments for children in the age group 0-2 years and its main markets are US and Europe. Citing 2014 data, the annual report noted that birth rates in US have started to rise again. In 2014 the number of US births increased 1.4 per cent to 3.99 million from 3.93 million in 2013.
As a reflection of the renewed consumer sentiment in US, the specialty infant apparels segment has grown close to 8 per cent in 2015, Jacob said.
“We expect to maintain the same growth rate in FY18, FY19 and FY20… our aim is to become the number one infant apparel manufacturer in the world,” Jacob, added.
