Sourcery Names 4 Best-in-Class to its Direct-to-Grower Program
Sourcery has introduced two new initiatives that further reinforce its mission to connect brands, suppliers and farmers in their commitment to set transformative standards in the cotton industry.
Under the “Best in Class” umbrella, four grower partners have made a multi-year commitment to improve the cotton industry’s business and environmental methods, as well as maintain accepted practices in the sale and production of cotton fiber through Sourcery’s Direct-to-Grower program.
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The second initiative, the Provisional Partnership Programme, allows prospective members to join Direct-to-Grower for a year and avail themselves of the benefits without an upfront financial commitment.
For the current 2023-24 season, the four “Best-in-Class” growing partners include Amiha, a trading group located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, best known for its work in integrated crop management systems around the country; Delight Group, a specialized trader that deals in high-quality organic and sustainable raw products based in Indore, India; OM Organic Cotton of Orissa, India, which partners with a group of local farmers specialized in organic and sustainable agricultural methods; and Basil Commodities Pvt. Ltd., Gujarat, a global company engaged in farming, ginning, trading and raw cotton exports.
Each will contribute to the production of 10,000 metric tons (60,600 Indian bales) of cotton that will be available for sale this season.
The bales will for the first time include primary verified data on the grower and its household, farm type and location, qualified agronomic practice details, and transaction payment verification in addition to traceability of raw fiber volumes from the grower farms to gins owned by the four companies. As access to purchasing data requires membership in Sourcery, it will be available under license to be purchased separately from the cotton fiber itself in a direct transaction with the grower partners at the time of purchase.
Some 100,000 metric. tons (600,000 Indian bales) is the predicted total quantity of fiber that will be made available through Sourcery this year, coming from current and future members of the program. Sourcery will promote the fiber to spinners, fabric mills, assembly and brands who share the organization’s belief in a better future for the cotton trade as a whole.
The Provisional Partner Program is open to 10 spinners or vertical manufacturers and is positioned as another way to support growers and the growers behind them by introducing them to the benefits of participation. They will become full members next year after meeting a schedule of requirements designed to drive demand, according to a statement by Sourcery.
Next year Sourcery will also launch a free Sourcery Connect app that is the next phase of Direct-to-Grower and the next step in Sourcery’s digital transformation.
According to Sourcery’s director, Crispin Argento, these involved suppliers are rewriting the rules of trade. “Through direct-to-grower, they are redefining what sustainability means when it comes to quality, integrity, transparency and social and environmental impact in cotton,” he said.
There are plans to extend Direct-to-Grower to Brazil, Australia and East Africa, as well as other regions around the world. Pakistan’s Sapphire Textile Mills joined earlier this year.
