Cotton being grown in Pakistan in 2012. Traceability is a key factor in cotton supply, as the United States grows about 11 percent of the world’s cotton supply, with much of the rest coming from areas known for using child and forced labor. (Dreamstime/TNS)
The T-shirt you buy at Target may be made from 100% cotton, but that doesn’t necessarily tell you the entire history of that garment.
Companies aiming to sell guilt-free clothing have long struggled to trace the global supply chains that produce 54 billion pounds of cotton a year. Traceability is important because seven of the world’s 10 largest cotton-producing countries have faced accusations of using child or forced labor.
Agriculture giant Cargill and retailer Target have responded to consumer demand for transparency in clothing and textiles by partnering with a technology company that can trace fabrics around the world. Fibertrace uses digitally traceable pigments that allow cotton bales to be traced from initial processing to the finished product.
“The way the cotton industry works, once you’re in the supply chain, it’s hard to differentiate,” said Mitch Standen, head of global operations at Fibertrace. “It’s all about knowing where your product is, where and when it was made, and verifying that information with a scan.”
Cargill, one of the world’s largest cotton buyers, plans to use the technology on 50,000 tonnes of cotton from the U.S. and Brazil this year to make it into product that will hit Target stores early next year.
“It’s similar to food: people want to know where their food comes from, and they want to know where their clothes come from,” said Krista Rickman, who leads Cargill’s cotton sustainability programs. “The textile industry is incredibly complex, and we’re working at the beginning and end of the supply chain to make a difference.”
For Target, it’s about both meeting consumer demand and keeping its own corporate promises.
“Ensuring full transparency about where the cotton used to produce our products is grown is one of the top priorities of our company’s sustainability goals,” Target’s president of private brands, Bill Foudy, said in a statement.
Target’s cotton policy states that the retailer “will not knowingly purchase or sell products made in whole or in part using forced or underage labor.” The company specifically does not accept products made with cotton from Turkmenistan or China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, where forced labor is allegedly widespread in cotton fields.
But as cotton moves around the world, from field to gin to factory, one farmer’s crop often becomes an anonymous thread. Even when bypassing global supply chains, the lack of economies of scale means direct sourcing can be cost-prohibitive for many consumers.
With traced cotton on store shelves, Fibertrace can back up a farm’s regenerative practices and other sustainability claims, Standen said. It can also keep costs down with real-time shipping and inventory data, rather than relying on paper and phone calls for sourcing. All of this makes the business case for traceability stronger.
A PwC survey last year found that 75% of consumers globally said they would be willing to pay up to 5% more for transparency into the origins of their clothing, but less than a third said they would be willing to pay a surcharge of 10% or more.
Rickman said tracing cotton is a lot like adding features when buying a car — the more you pay, the more you get — and, with enough demand, traceability could become a standard feature.
“Change is not easy and it requires a commitment from everyone who wants a better outcome,” Standen said. “It’s great to see the industry moving forward in a company-based and consumer-led way.”
