A T-shirt bought from Target might be 100% cotton, but that doesn’t necessarily explain the garment’s whole history.
Companies looking to sell guilt-free garments have long struggled to track a global supply chain that spins out 54 billion pounds of cotton per year. Traceability is important, because among the world’s 10 largest cotton-producing countries, seven are facing accusations of using child or forced labor.
Minnesota companies Cargill and Target have responded to consumer demand for transparency in clothing and textiles by teaming up with a tech company that can follow the fabric around the world. FibreTrace uses a digitally trackable pigment that follows a bale of cotton from initial processing to finished product.
“The way the cotton industry works, it’s hard to differentiate once it’s in the supply chain,” said Mitch Standen, global head of operations for FiberTrace. “It all comes down to knowing where your product is, when and where it was produced, and verifying that information with a scan.”
Cargill, one of the world’s largest buyers of raw cotton, will use the technology on 50,000 tons of cotton from the U.S. and Brazil this year that will end up in products on Target shelves early next year.
“It’s not unlike food: People want to know where their food is coming from, and people want to know where their clothes are coming from,” said Krista Rickman, who leads cotton sustainability programs for Cargill. “The textile industry is very complex, and we’re working at the start and end of supply chains to make change.”
For Target, it’s both about meeting consumer demand and living up to its own corporate pledges
“Achieving full visibility to where the cotton used to produce our products is grown is among the top priorities of our sustainability goals,” Bill Foudy, president of owned brands at Target, said in a statement.