Neither - Hula Global is a merchant exporter.
For a large part, apparel supply chain consist of various participants – yarn suppliers, knitting, dyeing, printing, weaving, washing, cut & sew – just to name a few. Add logistics & custom clearances etc. to the value chain – and you have a long list of core participants to manage. For a clothing brand – managing all these different stakeholders can quickly become chaotic. And this is where Hula Global comes in.
Hula Global is a full-package supplier that operates a network of factories – 27 to be specific (erstwhile 34 factories). Each factory specialises in a specific product type. For example T-shirts: Coimbatore | Dress shirts : Bangalore, Women’s dresses, Noida and Delhi NCR and likewise….
As a merchant exporter, Hula Global acquires the capacity of these factories and has its own quality management team to run the production along with the factory’s team. This method of operation is very different from a typical buying office set-up where a buying office is simply an intermediary with no control over production.
In terms of asset ownership, Hula Global does not own the yarn manufacturing, printing or dyeing units, cut & sew facilities or even the logistic fleets. Hula Global manages all the different stakeholders across the value chain so that you get the best product at the most cost efficient manner.
Legal definition as per the Government of India customs nomenclature is that of a Merchant Exporter. Working with a “middle-man” and working with Hula Global are completely different experiences. We have highlighted the difference between a buying office and a merchant exporter (Hula Global) in this article about merchant exporter.