Kassatex Expands Eco-Friendly Line

New York — After proving successful at the soft launch last August, bath towel, rug and robe manufacturer Kassatex is moving forward with its first organic and eco-friendly collection, Organika by Kassatex.

Company owner, president and ceo Ernesto Khoudari told HTT that Organika, which hits Kassatex's highest price bracket at its luxury level, is "in-stock" for this market and is now available in eight colors — white, natural, linen, wheat, green tea, stone, coffee and Aegean blue.

"In August we were still not in stock, but we showed [the concept] to customers and it has been very successful for us," he said. Organika has drawn the attention of several customers, especially in the upper tier of catalog retailers, new to Kassatex, Khoudari added.

"For this market, we're in stock and have added new colors," he said. Organika comes as a bath ensemble, bath sheet and tub mat. The sizes are: 28-by-56 bath towel, 16-by-28 hand, 12 inch-square wash, 34-by-66 sheet and 20-by-34 tub mat.

Manufactured in Portugal, Organika products are made of 100% combed organic cotton, certified by Skal.

"In most cases of organic towels, the product is not that soft because of the use of special dyes and lack of softener," Khoudari explained. "But we wanted ours to be as soft as possible, so we made sure to use very high quality combed cotton."

The towels are solid color and have a wide border.

Retail price points are set at $19.99 for the bath towel and the same for the tub mat.

Next on the earth-friendly map for Kassatex is a line of organic bath rugs.

Kassatex is an eight-year-old company founded by Khoudari, whose family has owned and operated a towel manufacturing mill in Colombia for the past 40-plus years. Its core line comprises high-end soft towels made of natural fibers, including zero twist, Egyptian cotton and combed cotton. A new collection it will call Seacell, made with seaweed, is a likely introduction for later this year.