COTTON USA Embrace Nature, Choose Cotton

NEWS

Sustainability - a driver for business growth

CCI is proud to announce the success of its sustainability conference in Budapest, Hungary last month. The “Sustainability – A Driver for Business Growth” conference delivered responses to key industry and consumer concerns regarding sustainable home textiles and apparel.

Hamish McRae, a principal economic commentator whose insights are globally in demand, kicked off with an excellent keynote speech related to the world economy.

International experts then shared ideas about all aspects of sustainable development, tracking and marketing. The various conference sessions discussed practical challenges encountered in adopting sustainability as a business strategy, and leaders at each stage of the supply chain shared solutions they have adopted to overcome these challenges. Tactics for communicating the sustainability message to the end consumer were also covered.

“The CCI conference proved invaluable in providing a forum to present best practices from all parts of the cotton supply chain,” according to Anthony Garcia-Rios, Senior Manager, Production Gap Europe.  He went on to explain, “The speakers provided an insightful view of today’s sustainability challenges, with the event also offering the perfect opportunity to meet key new contacts in an informal setting.”

Fifteen European brands and retailers were represented at the conference, including high profile names such as Benetton, Gap Europe, Hugo Boss, John Lewis, Replay, VF Europe and Tesco Clothing. Regional mills and manufacturers also attended, keen to learn how they could utilise sustainability to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

We are pleased to reveal that all respondents of a post-conference survey indicated that they would recommend further conferences of this type.

Lucy Shaw, Responsible Sourcing Manager at John Lewis, revealed that it was “a great opportunity to get every member of the cotton industry from grower through to retailer together under one roof to talk about sustainability. It was thought provoking, informative, challenging but also fun to listen and chat with individuals who all have the same ultimate goal which is to drive sustainability in the cotton supply chain.”

Stephanie Thiers-Ratcliffe, CCI’s International Marketing Manager, explains that: “COTTON USA understands the increasing importance of environmental issues for consumers and their desire for cotton products which combine natural fibre benefits with sustainable production and processing. We are therefore glad to have organised a conference that tackled these issues head on.”