Securing Cottons Future: Thinking Beyond the Boll

摘要

There is no denying that the cotton industry faced challenges in 2011. The fluctuating price of raw cotton fiber placed cotton and its position as a textile staple under scrutiny. Concerns over supply, pricing stability, and the effect of these to retail margins and consumer wallets spurred some in the textile industry to explore fiber substitution strategies. However, the challenges of 2011 were not the greatest that cotton has faced and endured. What keeps our industry on track is vision: thinkingout of the box or, in the case of cotton, beyond the boll. By accessing where the industry has been and where it is currently, a thoughtful vision of where it needs to go can be determined. This way of thinking was evident in the establishment of CottonIncorporated. The idea of creating a company dedicated to both innovating and promoting a commodity was advanced for its time. The company's Seal of Cotton and The Fabric Of Our Lives campaign marked the first time that a commodity had branded itself forpromotion.