My own personal problems with the company have precluded me from ever buying their products, or recommending them to others with any earnestness.
For the money, I’d rather have a Kiwaya laminate any day of the week and twice on Sunday. And the solid models I have played have been pretty average and unremarkable to my ear.
To me, they did a great job of branding and marketing themselves, an ok job making ukuleles en masse, and pretty horrible job with the company culture. They aren’t in it to bring the ukulele to new people: they are in it to bring their ukuleles to people. The difference creates a culture where profits are the only real concern, and for me that is hugely problematic. It creates a lot of blind spots around the way the company operates and decisions they make towards sustainability and their impact on the environment.
Does Kala make ukuleles? Yeah. Would I ever buy one, regardless of the model, knowing what I know about how things happen behind the curtain? Never.
I would be supremely happy if they faded into obscurity, and took things like the awful fruit-painted “novelty line” with them.
Again, just my opinion, which I’m sure is not a popular one.