Page 19 - 20 Cotton SA December 2019

/ INDUSTRY
COTTON CLIMBS

OUT OF THE CLOSET

by Tanya Aucamp, Communication Specialist for Cotton SA

www.cottonsa.org.za

The South African Cotton Cluster programme Cotton SA launched the new Green Cotton Mark
was initiated by Cotton SA and the cotton during the Can’t Stop Cotton Indaba held on
producers in 2014 in partnership with other like- 13 November at Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg.
minded industry stakeholders, with the support “This mark will be Cotton SA’s vehicle to create
of government funding through the Department and enhance market access for local cotton
of Trade and Industry (the dti). The Cluster products”, said Leonard Venter, chairperson
stimulated awareness and open conversations of Cotton SA. Items linked to the cotton mark
on a coordinated platform, which included all at point of sale displayed on garments and/or
the stakeholders in the cotton value chain. swing tags, will give the consumer the confidence
The sustainability created through the Cluster that the product they are buying supports South
interventions and open conversations, with a African cotton production. The Green Cotton
retail demand-driven business model as key Mark will provide retail with a “mark” to build a
driver, combined with a rise in international local cotton brand.
cotton prices, enabled increasing profit margins The circular design of the mark represents
in relation to other competitive summer crops. integrated collaboration, of an industry taking
This has resulted in momentum in the cotton hands and forming a circle. Similarly, the
industry over the past five years, unlocking many production cycle from fibre to cloth follows
growth opportunities, bringing Cotton SA to the cotton that produces green cotton bolls, which
fore, and celebrating growth in the industry. after harvesting give rise to the production of
Aligned to this growth and the committed cotton bales, which in turn is processed by
support from cotton retail partners Mr Price rotation at spinner level, giving rise to finished
Group, Edcon Group and Woolworths, Cotton rolls of fabric! The green colour of the mark
SA is again in a position to dust off its coat and symbolises continuous growth that “can’t be
grow its marketing initiatives. It is with pride that stopped”!

Volume 21 No 4 December 2019 | 19