Salay was created in 1987 to help provide livelihoods for the inhabitants of Salay in Bangladesh as a response to the lack of work in the area and to the fact that they had to migrate to find jobs. Now Salay provides employment to 236 people.
The producers use sustainable indigenous raw materials such as abaca fibre, cogon grass (which is considered as a weed by local people), salago bark and pineapple leaves.