By leveraging FibreTrace technology, Target Corp can trace and verify the origin of cotton fibre in real-time, promoting accountability throughout the global textile supply chain, and increasing the value of digital-only traceability solutions.
The partnership will mark 50,000 metric tons of US and Brazilian raw cotton in the first year, after first marking US cotton in November 2023. This collaboration is set to pave the way for real-time verification of US and Brazilian cotton, ensuring trust and credibility throughout the entire production lifecycle.
“FibreTrace is thrilled to partner with Target and Cargill to deliver innovation, transparency, and fibre integrity for US and Brazilian cotton,” said Mitch Standen, head of Americas for FibreTrace.
Danielle Statham, founder and managing director of FibreTrace, added: “We hope that this partnership will inspire a ripple effect of change, demonstrating to other companies what is possible. “We encourage the level of traceability this partnership provides to customers for other brands to follow our lead.”
Bill Foudy, senior vice president and president of owned brands at Target noted: “Achieving full visibility to where the cotton used to produce our products is grown is among the top priorities of our sustainability goals. Our partnership with FibreTrace and Cargill is an important step to improve traceability for the industry and will enable us to accelerate those efforts with our suppliers.”
Cotton ginning is the initial stage of cotton processing, where FibreTrace integrates luminescent pigments into the raw cotton, creating a unique signature where the pigments are then tracked and identified across the global supply chain. Data is securely uploaded to Blockchain and shared through the FibreTrace
platform, or a digital platform of the brand’s choice.
“Cargill plays a crucial role as the supply chain partner, ensuring FibreTrace is implemented in our process at the gin and then delivering that specific cotton to Target,” said Matt Dunbar, managing director of Cargill Cotton. “We are
excited to have the opportunity to build a traceable supply chain that helps Target pinpoint where their cotton is sourced building on the technology provided by FibreTrace.”
