Established with a vision to bring quality revolution into latex products, Kerala-based Filatex Group of Companies that is headquartered in Trivandrum offers Heat-Resistant Latex Rubber Thread (HRLRT) – talcum coated in different shades from gauge 20 to 90. The compa¬ny caters to a diverse range of clients from various industries and its products are mainly used to make elastic bands which are used in textile products such as hosiery, socks, stockings, headbands, wrist bands, travel goods, furniture webbings, and more.
Filatex’s in-house lab facilities help the company to con¬duct production processes efficiently. The factories are equipped with cutting-edge process control facilities and follow stringent quality control techniques during every stage of production for their products to meet the international quality standards. Filatex exports its products to countries such as Turkey, China, Brazil, and Uzbekistan to name a few.
From Strength to Strength
“Our companies Filatex Vechukunnel and Filatex VCT Pvt. Ltd. are together the second largest manufacturers of Heat Resistant Latex Rubber Thread in India. A family-owned busi¬ness, that had its humble beginnings in the early 1960s, and has now been passed onto the third generation”, says Thomas Varghese, Managing Director, Filatex Group of Companies.
V.C. Thomas, the founder and a native of Kanjirapally, foresaw the immense potential for rubber thread in India due to the availability of good quality latex and decided to manufacture rubber thread. In 1965, he set up Padappa¬dy Rubber Works in Kanjirapally, along with his partner K V Abraham, employing about 250 workers. It was then that he developed his own unique and innovative method to manufacture rubber thread, paving way to becoming the only company in the country to manufacture rubber thread. Soon after, as more companies in India ventured into the rubber thread manufacturing business, the industry became more competitive. In 1978, V.C Thomas set up another factory in Industrial Area, Trivandrum, under the name V.C. Thomas & Co. with a vision to modernise and enhance production. With V.C. Thomas' passing away in 1979, the companies were man¬aged by his wife, Mariamma Thomas, and his brother, V.C. Varghese.
The 1990s witnessed a lot of changes in the elastic and garment industry. With newer technology and mass produc¬tion, imported rubber thread was becoming cheaper. Addi¬tionally, the new economic policy in 1992 made it cheaper to import. Therefore, the demand for imported Heat Resis¬tant Latex Rubber thread was rising, making it more diffi¬cult for Indian manufacturers to keep up. In 1987, the fac¬tory in Trivandrum was taken over by Chacko Varghese and Thomas Varghese and the factory in Kanjirapally by Alexan¬der Varghese, all sons of V.C. Varghese. Chacko Varghese, a graduate in chemistry and law, took up the challenge of set¬ting up a factory to manufacture HRLRT of international stan¬dards. After a lot of R&D, trips to factories abroad, and tri¬als, in 1996, Chacko was successful in manufacturing HRLRT indigenously under the brand name of Filatex with an annual capacity of 1000 tons.
Filatex’s factories are equipped with cutting-edge process control facilities and follow stringent quality control techniques during every stage of production
Having cracked the science of making rubber thread and seeing the market consumption, Chacko envisioned to expand the business and, in 2008, set up another factory – Filatex Vechukunnel in Canal Pirivu, Palakkad, with a higher capacity of 3000 tons per annum. The factory in Trivandrum was renamed to Filatex VCT.
Chacko’s demise in 2019 was a great loss to the compa¬ny. His son Varghese Chacko, a B.com graduate from Christ University, is managing the business as Joint Managing Direc¬tor with his uncle, Thomas Varghese, while Maria Chacko – the daughter of Chacko is handling the export division of the business.
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