How did your company get its start? Vik Giri: Terra Thread is a brand of sustainable, ethical and affordable bags. After noticing the lack of natural fiber bags in the fashion industry, my daughter Vizan and I created Terra Thread to fill this gap for conscious consumers. Nearly all backpacks and most of the bags available in the fast fashion market are made of synthetic fabric such as polyester, nylon and other plasticbased materials. These synthetics-based bags deplete our natural resources and negatively impact human lives and the entire ecosystem during production, usage and post usage of bags. Whereas Terra Thread bags are made using 100% organic cotton canvas grown by smallholder and tribal families in India—who primarily depend on rain-fed agriculture, which means good for people and the planet. Terra Thread specializes in backpacks and bags made from Fairtrade Certified Organic Cotton. All Terra Thread products are certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and made in a Fair Trade Certified Factory. In addition, each product is carbon neutral and has a traceable and transparent supply chain. Also, we support Feeding America’s campaign to end hunger in the U.S., adding to our commitment to the people and the planet. What led your company to enter the promotional products market? Giri: At first, we stumbled into the promotional products market after being approached by several promotional products distributors looking for truly sustainable bags. However, once we learned more about the market, we became painfully aware that apparel and bag products that are being offered for the market are mainly made of the same polyesters and nylon fabric as fast fashion. It became an easy decision to begin offering Terra Thread to the promotional products industry. What’s your favorite thing about being in the promotional products industry? Giri: As with all things, it’s the people. We have been overjoyed with the response to Terra Thread from distributors and their customers with like-minded beliefs in the importance of sustainability and ethical and socially responsible business practices. We are coming into the market when consumers are demanding name brands with sustainable attributes, with brands that also give back to the people and planet. We really could not have come into the promotional products industry at a better time. Why did you join PPAI? Giri: We wanted to support the promotional product industry’s association, as they share our values of product safety and ethical and social responsibility. We also wanted to align ourselves with PPAI because of its commitment to education. There is a real need to educate distributors and their customers on the importance of sustainability. NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Vik Giri Founder Terra Thread Mission Viejo, California PPAI 799548 98 | MARCH 2022 | CONNECT
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