By utilising its Empowering Farmers programme, German clothing company S.Oliver Group intends to start selling organic cotton clothing in 2024 which will come from its first directly traceable supply chain.
With the help of S.Oliver Group’s Empowering Farmers project, over 400 farmers in India are assisted in growing organic cotton, which will be utilised for the brand’s spring/summer 2024 collection and made accessible in the first half of the following year.
The Partnership Initiative for Organic Cotton in India, of which the S.Oliver Group has been a member since April 2022, gave birth to the scheme, which seeks to improve the lives of farmers and their families while maintaining transparency across the whole supply chain.
Its leaders are the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) and the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, and it strives to create supply chains that are both commercially and environmentally sound.
According to S.Oliver Group, it closely collaborates with the Vasudha cooperative and is dedicated to buying a specific amount of certified organic cotton or cotton in conversion over a three-year period.
The cooperative enables the participating farms to obtain specialised training, go on field trips to model farms, and share their experiences. The certification of the cotton and fields is also supported and counselled to the farmers.
S.Oliver Group’s chief product officer Sonja Balodis says, “Responsible management is a central value for us as a family company.”
