Exporting India’s Eco-Friendly Solutions Worldwide with Alibaba.com

My name is Gautam Goyal.My journey began in 2020 when I studied hospitality management in Switzerland. I spent nearly three years there. After that, I interned in the U.S. and landed a job as a restaurant manager at the biggest Fairmont hotel in North America.

When I came back to India and started job hunting, somehow it clicked in my mind that I should start the export business, especially with all the eco-friendly concepts I had seen in the U.S. There was a lot of demand for materials like bamboo and sugarcane bagasse there.

A Good Start

Luckily for me, India has plenty of raw materials needed to make eco-friendly products like bagasse from sugarcane and palm leaves. Fun fact: India is the only country that makes plates out of palm leaves. On top of that, my hometown, Yamunanagar, is a hub for paper product manufacturing, so I had a strong base from which to work.

While my extended family already owned many paper mills, I wanted to take a different approach by focusing on handmade paper. It was a bit of a challenge because I had to start from scratch and find the right factories. I tapped into my connections abroad and began exporting to top hotels like Fairmont and Four Seasons in the U.S. through my dad’s company.

Things were moving in the right direction, and soon enough, I felt ready to take the plunge and start my own company. In 2019, Krishna Eco Exports was born and I also joined Alibaba.com. From there, everything just took off.

I set up my own factory and made full use of local materials. We partnered with a network of the best manufacturers across India—factories in the south for palm leaf products and in the west for paper. Production hasn’t been an issue and we can handle as many orders as they come in.

Setting the Table for Success

We started by selling paper products and stationery on Alibaba.com, and things were going well. But I wanted to expand our reach and explore different market segments.

I noticed that tableware products were doing well on the platform, so I pivoted and sold disposable tableware in 2022 or 2023. The response was immediate. Inquiries began pouring in. You could say we had found our niche in the market for organic tableware on Alibaba.com.

We’re now the leading disposable tableware exporter in India. It’s safe to say that none can compete with us when it comes to services and shipping. We have more than 100 ships and offer great shipping benefits. We’ve even become the biggest dropshipper for Amazon UK through Alibaba.

Our first international order on Alibaba.com came from Italy in 2019. It was for handmade disposables for the MasterChef event. In 2022, we landed a huge order from the largest supplier to hotels and hospitals in the U.S. We shipped our very first 40-foot container of palm leaf products.

Today, we export to 22 countries, and our mini-site on Alibaba.com is available in 15 languages. I’ve traveled to 20 countries, so I know how important it is to overcome language barriers and build good relationships with buyers.

Currently, I’ve got 50 people working in my factory and another 20 in the office. The team in the office speaks English and a variety of Indian languages. They are also great with computers and use software to talk with customers. The AI translation on Alibaba.com has been a big help too. It suggests useful keywords and helps us respond quickly.