Certified organic cotton Maintaining our leadership

It takes three years to transition cotton crops to fully organic. As part of this project, C&A China committed to buy cotton during these transition years, which are challenging and risky years for farmers as they move from conventional to organic crops. This commitment was made before the sowing season, providing farmers with market access, additional incentives, and financial security. In addition, C&A China offered to pay the farmers a premium to secure their income and compensate for any loss of yield during the transition process.

In 2017, C&A China bought the entire crop produced by all 105 farmers involved in the project: around 80 metric tons. The cotton was used to make 147,000 T-shirts and 60,000 pairs of jeans, the first of which reached stores in April 2018 around Earth Day. In-store communications helped customers identify the new products made with this transition cotton. During 2018, C&A China expanded the project to a total of 300 farmers, purchasing 90 metric tons of in-transition cotton to produce 144,000 T-shirts and 80,400 pairs of jeans. We also worked with farmers to improve their harvesting technology and prevent the accidental introduction of foreign fibres, which can affect quality and lead to wastage during spinning and cutting.

In 2019, Binzhou farmers produced 80 metric tons of cotton to make 100,000 pieces of clothing for sale by C&A China in 2020.

A collaborative effort from farm to consumer

Emerging technologies are beginning to offer brands the tools they need to efficiently and reliably verify materials, but until now these have not been successfully applied in the garment industry. The Organic Cotton Traceability Pilot was initiated in 2018 by Fashion for Good and the partner organisations to test and validate on-product markers in combination with blockchain technology as a traceability solution in real-world practice. Details of the pilot were announced earlier last year prior to in-field testing, which concluded this past summer.

The unique collaborative nature of the pilot project was key to its successful outcome. The partner organisations provided expertise to direct the pilot as well as financial support to fund project activities. C&A was instrumental to the project, leveraging our supply chain – Pratibha Syntex Limited, a vertically integrated manufacturing facility from farm to fashion in India supporting in-field trials, as well as our retail expertise – to fully explore production from fibre to garment available in stores across Europe.^[2]

Exploring new practises with cutting-edge technology

The lead technical partner, Bext360 blockchain integrated the technologies of supporting technical partners Haelixa, Tailorlux, IN-Code Technologies, and Corebiome, whose DNA, invisible fluorescent, and microbiome ^[3] technologies, respectively, were applied in tracking the organic cotton. After enduring the harsh manufacturing processes of spinning, chemical treatments, high temperatures, and dyeing, the DNA and invisible fluorescent tracers emerged intact to positively identify the cotton in consumer-ready garments in retail outlets. E-Code NFC tags ^[4] provided by IN-Code Technologies enabled additional verification by way of unique digital data points collected through production. Deploying machine vision and artificial intelligence to automatically catalogue and grade the quality of the cotton, the Bext360 blockchain platform can then track each transaction through the entire value chain.

“The success of the Organic Cotton Traceability Pilot provides a positive impulse towards traceability and transparency in the value chain. We’ve gathered sufficient insights and evidence to support the case, in terms of technical as well as operational viability, for the wider implementation of the process in the organic cotton industry. In addition, the process shows enormous potential for further expansion to include other fibres in the fashion supply chain.” Katrin Ley, Managing Director of Fashion for Good.

Current traceability systems, though reliable, rely largely on paper-based trails of certification as well as various, separate systems to manage the chain of custody. The new process explored in the Organic Cotton Traceability Pilot creates a digital and physical trail that increases reliability of traceability by combining the immutability of blockchain with on-product markers that verify the identity of the fibre. This method comes closest to full traceability of the origin, purity, and distribution of the cotton within the current landscape. At the consumer level, the solution can be used to communicate which suppliers and manufacturers have worked together to create the final product.

Transparency in the value chain

In recent years, there has been increasing pressure for transparency along the fashion value chain from both consumers and governments. Simultaneously, greater awareness of the social and environmental impact of the fashion industry has catalysed intense interest and positive action towards more sustainable practices. Organic cotton promotes healthy soils, healthy ecosystems, healthy people, and thriving farming communities and is consequently a key fibre in the sustainability strategies of fashion brands worldwide. It offers a lower ecological impact – reducing exposure to insecticides, pesticides, and other chemicals, than conventional cotton production, which involves some of the highest use of pesticides and incurs a heavy water footprint. By having fully traceable organic cotton, the hope is to grow its use in the industry while increasing awareness of sustainable products.

Future potential and awareness

Since July 2020, the Fashion for Good Experience in Amsterdam – a consumer-facing museum focused on sustainable fashion and innovation – features an organic cotton T-shirt from the very supply chain in this pilot project. By scanning a QR Code, visitors can discover the journey of the cotton in the T-shirt. Besides the exhibition in the museum, the Experience will host events around transparency and traceability to educate consumers about their importance. Insights from the pilot will be shared to raise awareness of the significance of organic cotton as well as the benefits of a transparent supply chain.

^[1] In January 2020, C&A Foundation became part of Laudes Foundation.

^[2] In C&A stores in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.

^[3] The extraction process using microbiome tracing was inconclusive in this pilot, having no current precedent for extracting biome material from seed or lint cotton. Test data from soil samples taken from participating farms provided promising insights into the future potential for this technology.

^[4] Near Field Communication tags are tiny electronic chips which can store and transmit information using radio frequencies that can be read over short distances by a device or smartphone.