COTTON USA IS SOFT, SENSUAL AND NATURAL
COTTONCAST December 09
Interviewer - I
Rob Martin - RM
I: Welcome to the Cottoncast where we are joined by Rob Martin, Manager of Cavendish Textiles, Internal Sourcing Department within John Lewis UK.
So Rob how has CCI helped you with your sourcing requirements?
RM: Well our sourcing requirements have changed in recent years. Like many other retailers we have historically sourced mainly from European suppliers who are familiar with our brand and our standards and in whom we have, therefore, had great confidence that we will consistently source high quality product.
But in recent years as more retailers have moved the sourcing offshore. the market has become very competitive and prices and margins are continually under pressure. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to make sure that our sourcing routes are as cost-effective as they can be, but in a way that does not compromise the quality that customers expect from the John Lewis brand.
To do this, it’s critical for us to find suppliers who can meet our requirements and have the same approach to high quality as we do, and CCI are looking for a very similar thing from their licensees. So we have, therefore, been able to use CCI’s experience of quality suppliers to find factories who can meet our quality requirements.
I: How do you feel the sourcing market has changed over the last few years Rob and how has this affected buyers?
RM: The retail market in the UK in key categories, such as bed and bath linen, has become much more competitive as new players have entered the category. As well as putting pressure on price this has also increased the pace of change as all retailers try to offer something new that gives us an edge over the competition. At the same time, the availability and quality of integrated factories in the Far East has improved hugely. Qualities that were previously only available from European suppliers are becoming much more readily available from other sources.
All of this has put pressure on buyers to ensure that their sourcing is always the best it can be and this is, I guess, an increasingly fast changing industry where new regions and new suppliers are developing all the time. It’s very difficult for a buyer to manage to keep to up to date with the developing situation across a number of regions, and the CCI programme is a great support to our buyers in doing this.
I: And how long have you had this relationship with CCI then?
RM: We've been working with CCI during the last couple of years. After initial discussions for us to understand more about the CCI supply chain marketing programme, and for them to understand our business needs, we have had regular exchanges of information and we have attended a couple of CCI conferences and made use of CCI’s support at the last two years’ Heimtextil shows in Frankfurt.
I: So I imagine CCI’s useful expertise in the sourcing market really saves you a lot of time then?
RM: Yes absolutely. Any buyer who has been to a trade show the size of Heimtextil in Frankfurt will know that looking for a new supplier for a particular product can feel a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. Endless aisles of booths all seeming to offer similar capabilities can be a daunting prospect.
CCI’s expertise and knowledge of the capabilities of various mills in different regions effectively provides us with a shortlist of potential suppliers to explore. And since we know that what CCI are looking for is similar in many ways to what we need, there is a good chance that the best supplier for us will already be in contact with CCI. Clearly this makes finding appropriate new suppliers much less speculative and I suspect that it also gives the supplier some confidence that we have heard of them through their connection with CCI.
We've also found the role of the local CCI representatives valuable as they have been able to offer more detailed information about particular suppliers and to help with initial introductions.
I: So Rob, what regions has CCI helped you reach and what sort of contacts have you made?
RM: CCI have primarily been helping us in the Asia and South Asia regions. Through them we have established contact with mills in a range of countries, including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and China. We've undoubtedly made contact with suppliers that we otherwise would not have met or would have taken much longer to find. And we've also used CCI’s expertise in the extensive supply base in Turkey.
The contacts we have made have been good quality vertical mills who are well placed to meet our requirements. The majority of our discussions have centered around bed linen and bath linen but we have managed to make some contacts in other home furnishing categories as well.
In one specific example we met a supplier through CCI whom we have now been working with for over a year and whom we have grown a substantial amount of business with.
I: And finally, John Lewis attended CCI’s recent sustainability conference, both in Dubai and in Budapest, was it useful to you?
RM: Yes both conferences proved very useful, providing a range of thought provoking and informative presentations from all parts of the cotton supply chain, as we all wrestle with the challenge of sustainability.
I think there's general acceptance that sustainability is fast becoming one of the main sourcing issues we have to deal with in the textile industry, but the way to do this best is not clear, and to hear how others are approaching it proves very valuable.
CCI events are always useful as well for the chance to meet new suppliers and contacts in an informal setting, and both conferences provided this. The Dubai conference also provided a more structured mini trade fair of which we made contact with various suppliers with whom we are continuing to work now.
I: Well thanks for joining us Rob.
RM: Thanks very much.
And thanks for listening to this Cottoncast.