Small Artisans
(they weave) the Toquilla Straw hats or panama hats. For the production of a rudimentary hat 10 tops are employed. In this case the tops are not combed completely what facilitates the making (the weaving) of a hat.
The artisans employ among 1 to 2 days to weave a rudimentary hat. One must keep in mind that this is going to vary depending on the hours employ to weave it. An artisan that weaves for 8 continuous hours a rudimentary hat, can completely finish a hat in a day and then begin to work in another.
This type of hat is sold among US$ 3,5 to US$ 4,00. The small artisans, they also manufacture very fine hats but the time spent on one of these hats varies from 5 to 6 months. Therefore the artisans prefer not to weave very laborious hats that take too long but rather rudimentary hats which can be sold easily and quickly. To weave fine hats we need 10 to 12 tops. Nevertheless in this case the tops need to be crumbled in very fine fibers to obtain an above all costly, laborious, and
impeccable weaving.
This type of hats are mostly appreciated in the in the international market rather than in the national, that is why fino and superfino hats are difficult to get and require some manufacture time as they are not normally woven in large quantities.
Medium artisans
They are also engaged in export but they do so in lower volumes compared to large exporters.
Generally this is a work devoted to members of a family. They weave from 3 to 5 fine hats monthly, working daily. When they have the need to export, they hire more artisans, encreasing the working hours to be able to finish on time to dispatch international orders placed by not so patient international buyers.
Great artisans and exporters
They can export between 1000 and 1500 hats biannually and from time to time a lot more.
They already have a business. These Export Businesses need to hire many families of artisans to work weaving hats for their international clients (mainly in the city of Cuenca), besides when demand is so high and their workers cannot weave as many hats as needed for export purposes, they must hire additional workers or else buy hats from other small artisans or factories.
Many export companies work with each other when they need to supply an order of immediate delivery. Buying and selling each other hats, although they are competitors they give one another a hand when needed, this obviously involves a reduction in the marginal profit of one of the companies and the company in need of hats must pass the hats by a process of review before accepting them to be part of their trademark as well as doing the necessary changes in order for the hats to have the companies identification and quality required.
