NEWS REPORT / BUSINESS STANDARD

ACIL enters into contract farming for 173 acres in Gujarat

ACIL Cotton Industries said it has entered into contract farming with farmers of Sunderhagar, Gujarat, for cultivating organic crops over 173 acres of land, according to a report in Business Standard quoting newswire, PTI.

"As per the agreement, company will provide all facilities like irrigation system, technical assistance, quality seeds, organic fertiliser and labour (if required) to farmers for better yields," ACIL Cotton Industries (ACI) has said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company has already started farming in 149 acres land in the same location and with the addition of 173 acres of land, the total area under the company for organic cultivation has now gone up to 322 acres.

"This is the first step by the company to cultivate organic harvests as a model called integrated organic cultivation, which would guarantee farmers a market-supportive mechanism for selling their produce," the filing said.

Besides, the company is in advanced stage of negotiation for bringing another 100 acres of land in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, under the contract farming, it added.

Read the Full story: ACIL enters into contract farming for 173 acres in Gujarat

NEWS REPORT / NIKKEI

Itochu To Support Farmers' Transition to
Organic Cotton in India

Japanese trading house Itochu Corporation will seek to boost the output of organically grown cotton in India by providing financial aid to small farmers who give up the use of chemicals, reports Nikkei.

Accreditation for organic cotton production requires at least three years of chemical-free cultivation, with small producers facing dwindling income for that period. As a result, the trading house will pay a premium of 20-30% over regular cotton during the course of the transition.

Cotton grown during the changeover will be branded pre-organic. Last year, Itochu bought 400 tons of pre-organic cotton from some 900 farmers in northern India, and plans to buy 500 tons from 1,100 producers this year. With around 4,000 farmers wanting to make the switch to organic, Itochu plans to procure 1,000 tons from 2,000 producers in 2012.

Purchased pre-organic cotton will be shipped to Japan and elsewhere in raw cotton or thread form to be made into T-shirts, jeans and other products. Focusing on their eco-friendliness, the items will be marketed as high-value-added apparel to differentiate them from lower-priced offerings.

Source News Report: Itochu Promoting Organic Cotton Production In India
Photo Courtesy Itochu Corporation website

NEWS FEATURE / ADWEEK

An Organic Expansion

Is Organic Cotton finally going mainstream. Is it moving out of the fringes of nice things to do and taking centre-stage as the way of fashion? A key to such mass shifts in consumer fashion behaviour is seen only when new trends extend beyond the clothes horses and move on to a more 'universal' set of textiles and apparels, linen and upholstery. And that's what seems to be happening for organic cotton.

An Adweek feature on Greensource, the eighth largest maker of organic clothing on the planet, with revenues in excess of $50 million, chronicles the story that began six years ago with a shipment of yoga tops to to Sam's Club, Walmart's warehouse club unit.

David Basson, the CEO of Seattle-based Greensource Organic Clothing Company, makes the point that with huge retailers finally catching on, it's only a matter of time before organic clothing goes mainstream. "Consumers understand the issues," he says. "They want to take care of the planet. Once people get into it, they're not going to go back."

Adweek points out that the numbers are out there to support Basson's prophesy:

Not long ago, the mere mention of organic apparel conjured images of Woodstock-era hippies clad in hemp belts and Birkenstocks, mashing up a fresh batch of granola. But such clichés -- if they were ever accurate -- are far from the reality now.

Between 2008 and last year, while recessionary cutbacks in household spending saw overall sales of apparel and domestic textiles drop by 7 percent, sales of organic cotton grew by double digits -- 35 percent to be exact -- according to the trade group Organic Exchange. In fact, organic cotton's annual growth rate has grown steadily for a decade now: 40 percent on average each year since 2001. Organic apparel is currently a business worth $4.3 billion; by next year, it's expected to hit $6 billion.

Read "Moral Fabric: Clothiers Go Organic" in the Adweek

PRESS RELEASE / BIOFACH 2011

BioFach 2011 To Celebrate Organic Cotton

Green fashion is on the road to success and global representatives from the organic sector meet once a year at BioFach, the World Organic Trade Fair at the exhibition centre in Nürnberg. Altogether 2,557 exhibitors and 43,669 trade visitors attended the last event.

From 16–19 February, the Textil-Area at BioFach 2011 will have a gathering of suppliers and visitors with interests in natural textiles and eco fashion. This year’s special area continued the success of the premiere with a total of 47 exhibitors present. A real highlight this year were the daily fashion shows, which will take place again in 2011 following their successful first edition, says a BioFach 2011 Press Release.

Buyers will be able to view new products and trends from the green fashion market at the BioFach and Vivaness exhbitions in Nürnberg from 16–19 February 2011. In addition, the Textile Forum sessions will be held simultaneous with the annual BioFach Congress.

 Press Release: BioFach 2011: Green fashion increasingly catching on

PRESS RELEASE / VAN HEUSEN

Van Heusen Organic Shirts Fund Tree Drive

In India, Van Heusen had introduced an ECO Range in April this year – a 100% organic line of shirts made of 100% organic cotton, untreated cotton seeds and natural dyes.  As part of this initiative, Van Heusen had committed to give 1% of its sales of the Eco line to “Trees for Free’’ an organization committed to increasing the green cover on this planet. In essence, every eco shirt purchased meant more trees planted.

The sole aim of ‘Trees For Free’ organization is to plant and nurture trees in public spaces for the benefit of all. Till date, they have planted over 21,000 saplings in the city of Bangalore.

Living up to the commitment, Mr. Shital Mehta, COO, Van Heusen today presented a cheque of Rs 4.5 lakh, a part of the revenues from the sale of Eco line, to Ms. Janet Yegneswaran, President of ‘Trees for Free’ at the company’s head office in Bangalore, says a Press Release.


For the full Press Release

NEWS REPORT / THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

The Ethicus of Organic Fashion

There is a new breed in town in India: The organic entrepreneur. People who have looked at their business with fresh eyes and tied it back to the millennia of tradition of caring for the earth, the soil aand the rooted Indian approach of balance between nature's elements. One such story being told in the Indian Express by
Vijayalakshmi Nachiar of Ethicus who is promoting her ‘ethical fashion’ brand from Appachi Cotton. Vijayalakshmi ties up her story with the fate of the weaver community and India’s handloom industry.

According to the Indian Express, the Ethicus story began in the sleepy town of Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, where a young and self-motivated couple, Mani Chinnaswamy and his wife Vijayalakshmi, the former with a graduate degree in management from the US and the latter with a graduate degree in textiles from Mumbai, inherited a three-generation old cotton business that was steeped in tradition, Appachi Cotton.

They worked on the concept of ‘inclusive and sustainable growth’ and adopted an innovative integrated contract farming model for cotton which helped ensure income for thousands of marginal farmers in the cotton production supply chain.

Mani started organic farming in the Kabini region in Mysore, which is an eco-sensitive area, involving 185 farmers which is now a certified organic farm. “To grow organic cotton in the region is ecologically viable as the Pollachi-Kabini region is home to a wealth of flora and fauna, including a tiger reserve and an elephant sanctuary that are under dire threat from synthetic genetically modified cotton cultivation which is contaminating the fragile forest reserves with its heavy use of chemicals,” says Vijayalakshmi.

The couple says there is a social stigma associated with farming. And traditional crafts like weaving are looked down upon. So the weaver community does not want their children to take up weaving but go for IT-related jobs. But Mani is encouraging these communities by ensuring that all players in the value chain, be it the environment and local wildlife, the farmers, the weavers, the centuries-old traditions, future generations and ultimately the very nation are taken forward to a better life.

Read the story here in The Indian Express
Photograph: www.ethicus.in

NEWS REPORT / SUNDAY MID-DAY

India's Online Organic Store

Do U Speak Green is India’s first 100 per cent organic clothing webstore and markets apparels made from organic cotton, bamboo, even eucalyptus viscose. “I am a wildlife and nature enthusiast, and have been in the business of exporting natural fabrics. The time seemed right ripe for an organic clothing line for India, since there was nothing like it here,” says the Mumbai-based entrepreneur Shirish Goenka in a report in the Sunday Midday.

“Most cotton farmers in the country don’t possess protection that’s necessary when dealing with pesticides. Most of them suffer from related illnesses, and some of them succumb due to prolonged exposure. Buying organically grown cotton means you are doing them a favour.” Organic cotton grown without chemicals is also better for the soil since soil fertility and therefore, yield, increases progressively over the years. As part of their commitment to the environment, Do U Speak Green donates 10 per cent of profits to the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), which uses the funds for conservation and plantation projects. The brand also retails at the BNHS office.

Read the Midday Story "Walk & Wear the Green Talk"

India's Green Entrepreneurs

Across the world, India's 'green entrepreneurs' are building on the country's large organic and sustainable cotton-growing base to build enterprises both at home and abroad.

In Freemont, California, the Green Creation founder Smitha Prasad knew the demand for organic baby clothing first hand, having searched for affordable products to the point of frustration for her two young children.

According to the IndUS Business Journal, Prasad launched The Green Creation in March. The Fremont, Calif.-based company designs and manufactures organic cotton clothing products. Currently its focus is on baby clothing: bodysuits and pants for infants and T-shirts and pants for toddlers. The company also sells baby accessories such as wash cloths, bibs, towels and blankets. The Green Creation is trying to keep prices as low as possible with all clothing items set at $13.99 and accessories ranging from $4.99 for wash cloths to $29.99 for blankets, currently the company’s most expensive item.

The clothes are manufactured in India in two factories, one in Kolkata and on in Tamil Nadu. The clothes are shipped out of a distribution facility in Fremont.

A similar inspiration lay behind Sameer Joshi's starting of the Funkoos Organic Baby Apparel line. When he started looking for organic clothing for his own newborns in 2008, he came away disappointed with the consistent combination of high prices and low quality they found. He and his co-founders got entrpereneurial and started Funkoos Organic Baby Apparel in order to give new parents the choice of high quality, affordable organic clothes for their young children.

Funkoos has local representatives in India where its products are manufactured and the quality control products on the assembly lines during manufacturing helps keep quality high and lower prices by reducing the risk of rejection during the final inspection phase, says Sameer Joshi in an interview to greenbuildingpro.

In India, entrepreneurs are going back to India's Khadi roots to propagate sustainable cotton. MINC fashion store in Bangalore is promoting eco-friendly fashion by using organic cotton, vegetable-dyed fabrics, and khadi.

Mini Shibu, a post graduate in apparel design from NID, and her husband Cdr (Rtd) Kochery C Shibu launched MINC, an eco-friendly fashion store for women. The concept “was to promote eco-friendly fashion, working with khadi fabrics, organic cotton and vegetable-dyed fabrics, while supporting a social chain of tribal cotton farmers, weavers and dyers community, therefore, trying to facilitate a healthier environment” , says the DNA.


The store offers MINC toujours and MINC petite for young girls and tweens, which are the labels from the studio Mishan designs in Bangalore.

The sustainable cotton story is not limited to retail chains. Cotton yarn manufacturing companies in India are also finding strong market support for sustainable cotton.  Cheslind Textiles Ltd., a maker of cotton yarn that supplies to brands including Victoria’s Secret and Calvin Klein, has increased production of organic cotton yarn by 33 percent to meet rising demand from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret, reports Bloomberg. 

PRESS RELEASE / ORGANIC EXCHANGE

Organic Exchange to Host Sustainable Textiles Conference

Over 300 international representatives will meet in New York City, New York USA October 27-28, 2010, to attend the 2010 Organic Exchange Sustainable Textiles Conference (www.organicexchange.org), according to a Organic Exchange press release. Participants will include those involved in making key decisions on sustainable textiles including; brands and retailers, manufacturers, farmers and producers, academics, NGO’s, and certifiers.

Attendees will learn about and discuss best practices, emerging issues, and strategies to improve sustainability of textiles, and organic cotton. An exhibit area will demonstrate and profile the best of sustainable fibers and technologies. Organic Exchange will host a separate one-day seminar focused on organic cotton on Friday, October 29.

The 2010 annual conference will also see introduction of the new OE (complete with a new name and logo) which will to help navigate through the shifts in the textile marketplace with an array of services and products.

Yvon Chouinard, Chairman and Founder of Patagonia, will provide insight on transparency during his keynote address. Other plenary speakers include: Eileen Fisher, designer and owner of fashion leader Eileen Fisher, Inc., and Tensie Whelan, President of Rainforest Alliance. Workshop speakers include leading experts in environmental footprinting of textiles, water conservation and management in the textile chain, eco indexing, environmental issues in dyeing and finishing, natural textiles, recycled textiles, bio-based textiles, ensuring product integrity claims, understanding the regulatory landscape, and more.

The conference is sponsored by Anvil Knitwear, ICCO, Lenzing, Nike, Orta Anadolu, Pratibha Syntex, Patagonia, Egedeniz Tekstil A.S., Eileen Fisher, Esquel, Genencor, Greensource, Hemp Fortex, Huntsman, Nordstrom, PT Indorama, Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative, Disney Consumer Products, and EcoTextile News.