Since BCI Traceability was implemented in November 2023, the number of retailer and brand members sourcing traceable BCI Cotton, officially known as Physical BCI Cotton, has grown at pace. More than 60 companies have signed up to source via BCI Traceability, while 17 have received products containing Physical BCI Cotton. 

Jacky Broomhead, Director of Traceability at the Better Cotton Initiative, says that traceable cotton has become a clear necessity for the fashion and textile industries. She said: “The complexity of textile supply chains, combined with increased legislation, makes the offer of traceability non-negotiable. To continue delivering on our mission to support cotton farmers around the world and ensure BCI farmers can access key markets, we needed to make BCI Cotton traceable.”

In just two years, more than 23,000 metric tonnes (MT) of Physical BCI Cotton have been traced from cotton gins to BCI Retailer and Brand Members, a huge increase from the 90 MT achieved by November 2024. With the average 100% cotton t-shirt containing around 180g grams, it means that enough Physical BCI Cotton has reached retailers and brands to make more than 127 million t-shirts. 

BCI has now rolled the solution out across all countries where it has field-level programmes and continues to help supplier and manufacturer members align with its Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard, which sets the requirements for handling Physical BCI Cotton and ensures the integrity of the system.

Achieving scale

In the past 12 months, BCI Traceability has been launched in Australia and Brazil, while the number of BCI Supplier and Manufacturer Members aligned with the CoC Standard has risen from 700 in 2024 to over 2,000. 

Broomhead added: “Making traceability both accessible to the market and inclusive of all BCI farmers has been a key goal of ours. Achieving this has been a truly collaborative effort made possible through the invaluable contributions of our retailer and supplier community who helped develop the solution, and the many companies now sourcing Physical BCI Cotton.” 

The continued success of BCI Traceability will also be vital cog in the rollout of the organisation’s new product label, which launched last month. The new label is available to BCI Retailer and Brand Members, enabling them to claim with confidence that their products contain Physical BCI Cotton, certified by a third-party body and traced from its country of origin.  

Third-party certification of the supply chain, in addition to traceability, makes the label a source of reassurance for consumers, while enhancing the credibility of retailers and brands.