Supply Chain Marketing (SCM) - Events & Promotions

COTTON USA Buyers Tour to Southeast Asia Successfully Concludes in Thailand - 2011
COTTON USA SCM Program Brings Apparel Executives to Bangladesh for Sourcing Tour - 2011
COTTON USA Buyers Tour to China Fast-Tracks the Sourcing Process - 2011
COTTON USA Supply Chain Marketing Program Yarn Buyers Tour to Thailand Connects Spinners with Asian Knitters and Weavers - 2011
COTTON USA Buyers Tour to Indonesia Provides Business Connections - 2009
International Buyers Converge in Turkey to Meet COTTON USA Suppliers - 2009
Sustainable U.S. Cotton Gains Popularity at Evteks Home Textile Trade Fair - 2009
Record Number of Companies Inquire About COTTON USA at Texworld and Première Vision - 2009
Lean Manufacturing Seminars in Turkey Offer Valuable Strategies - 2009
U.S. Cotton Contacts Meet at Heimtextil and “Cotton Club” - 2009

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http://www.cottonusasupplychain.com/

COTTON USA Buyers Tour to Southeast Asia Successfully Concludes in Thailand

Twenty-seven global buyers and retailers from the U.S., and six countries in Europe and Asia joined CCI's COTTON USA Supply Chain Marketing Buyers Tour to Southeast Asia held in Bangkok, Thailand. The group met with U.S. cotton textile and apparel suppliers from across Southeast Asia.

To provide sourcing options for the brands and retailers, 39 COTTON USA licensed suppliers with production facilities in five countries across Southeast Asia traveled to CCI's private trade fair in Bangkok where they promoted their U.S. cotton-rich fabrics and garments.

The Buyers Tour incorporated a briefing session explaining the benefits of sourcing from Thailand and the ASEAN region, a two-day trade fair and tours to fabric and garment manufacturing facilities located on the outskirts of Bangkok. Cotton Incorporated also supported the event with recruitment of participants and a presentation of their recent knit and woven product developments.

The event provided opportunities for overseas buyers to meet the entire supply chain in one location. Suppliers of cotton yarn, knit fabrics and apparel and woven fabrics and apparel suppliers from across the ASEAN region gathered at the CCI event to streamline the sourcing process and reinforce long-term business for retailers, manufacturers and the cotton industry alike. Mills and manufacturers in the ASEAN region are taking proactive steps to cooperate and form alliances to serve the needs of the apparel buyer who buys fabrics or finished garments. This cooperation gives ASEAN suppliers a stronger competitive position than they had previously.

Suppliers at the trade fair indicated that the COTTON USA Buyers Tour provided a platform for them to meet new buyers from overseas markets and helped to enhance their business relationships with existing customers. Most participants expressed their confidence that contacts made during the trip would lead to developing business ties and consequently increase sales of U.S. cotton.

COTTON USA SCM Program Brings Apparel Executives to Bangladesh for Sourcing Tour

For years the COTTON USA Supply Chain Marketing Program has organized tours for select groups of buyers in countries such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, India and Pakistan, but a tour in April broke new ground by visiting Bangladesh for the first time. Apparel executives were given unique opportunities to explore new markets and discover the advantages of sourcing U.S. cotton-rich fabrics and garments from key suppliers.

The four-day event kicked off with a briefing session designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the Bangladeshi market and the importance of U.S. cotton in textile and apparel production. COTTON USA was joined by Cotton Incorporated, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to give presentations. Buyers gained even further insight into the market when they heard from Li & Fung, the world's largest sourcing company, about its experience regarding doing business in Bangladesh.

Advantages offered by the trade fair enabled buyers to optimize their time by having individual meetings in one location with 17 COTTON USA licensees, ranging from vertically integrated spinning mills to key users of U.S. cotton-rich yarns and fabrics. They also had the chance to visit six of the most significant suppliers, who produce lightweight and heavyweight jerseys, sweaters, interlock and pique, and see their production facilities.

Feedback from the tour has been very positive. Buyers found it interesting and well organized, and have indicated they are now more willing to source from Bangladesh and are expecting to do business over the next year with the companies they met there.

COTTON USA Buyers Tour to China Fast-Tracks the Sourcing Process

The COTTON USA Supply Chain Marketing (SCM) Program hosted its fifth Buyers Tour to China in June, the largest apparel buyers' tour recorded in the history of the SCM Program. The event enabled buyers representing 25 brands and retailers, including Benetton, Debenhams, Max Mara, M&S, Polo Ralph Lauren and Quiksilver, to conveniently explore the advantages of sourcing U.S. cotton-rich garments from a wide range of selected suppliers. This year's tour differed from previous years, as suppliers from other parts of Asia with strong textile economies such as Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam were also invited, a move that was well received among the attendees. The week opened with an extensive briefing session that included introductions to CCI and new Cotton Incorporated product developments. The briefing session continued with a one-and-a-half day trade show and two days of factory visits in Hangzhou and Guangzhou where the buyers were able to inspect a number of selected companies' manufacturing facilities, and view U.S. cotton-rich woven fabrics and garments.

COTTON USA Supply Chain Marketing Program Yarn Buyers Tour to Thailand Connects Spinners with Asian Knitters and Weavers

Photo: Attendees sitting classroom style during the conference.

Fourteen of Thailand's spinning companies welcomed 11 companies from across Asia during the COTTON USA Yarn Buyers Tour to Thailand. CCI recruited senior staff yarn importing companies with manufacturing facilities in Asia to meet with Thai customers of U.S. cotton. The tour highlighted the advantages of sourcing U.S. cotton-rich yarns to regional buyers through some of Thailand's best spinners.

The tour started with a briefing session providing introductions to CCI and Cotton Incorporated; an industry overview and introduction to the ASEAN Federation of Textile Industries (AFTEX); mill introductions; a cotton economic report on U.S. and global cotton production, supply and demand; and a presentation on Asian textile trade trends.

CCI organized five different mill tours for the buyers. Additionally, buyers had opportunities during the week to network individually with the yarn manufacturers.

This event was the highlight of CCI's new Supply Chain Marketing (SCM) Program in Thailand, which has a total of 19 member mills. The SCM program is designed to create demand for U.S. cotton and products made with U.S. cotton throughout the entire supply chain from farm to retail shelf. CCI launched a special SCM program for the Thai spinners in 2010 due to their loyalty to U.S. cotton and desire to promote sales within Southeast Asia in an effort to bolster regional trade. For more questions about CCI's SCM program in Thailand, please visit www.cottonusasupplychain.com.

Photo: A man holding up cotton thread while viewing it. Photo: Attendees touring a cotton mills during the Buyers Tour.

COTTON USA Buyers Tour to Indonesia Provides Business Connections

2009 (June)
Leading brands and retailers from 28 global companies joined the COTTON USA Buyers Tour to Indonesia and met suppliers of pure cotton woven and knit fabrics and garments. The Buyers Tour included industry briefings, a two-day COTTON USA trade fair, mill tours and showroom visits. Thirty-five mills from across Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand participated in CCI’s COTTON USA trade fair based on their high quality items constructed from a majority of U.S. cotton, as well as their ability to work in export markets. The textile industry in Southeast Asia, with its dominance in the global textile arena and loyal use of high quality U.S. cotton, led CCI to conduct a tour to this region and provided many profitable networking opportunities for buyers searching for U.S. cotton-rich textile products.

Picture of people viewing fabric at the COTTON USA Buyers Tour to Indonesia

Picture of attendees view denim during the COTTON USA Buyers Tour to Indonesia

International Buyers Converge in Turkey to Meet COTTON USA Suppliers

2009 (March/April)
Buyers representing Japanese, Italian, German, UK and U.S. brands and retailers met leading Turkish suppliers of U.S. cotton-rich fabric and garments during the weeklong COTTON USA Supply Chain Marketing Buyers Tour to Turkey. This was the fifth Buyers Tour to Turkey over the past six years. The tour included a briefing session with CCI, Cotton Incorporated and the Turkish cotton and textile industry, and then two days of visits to sixteen suppliers’ showrooms around Istanbul. The group also heard a presentation on the Turkish textile industry from ITKIB, the Turkish Textile and Garment Exporters’ Association. Twenty-two COTTON USA suppliers assembled at CCI’s private trade show where buyers and sellers had a full day for meetings. The tour ended with two days of factory visits in Bursa, Kahramanmaras and Istanbul, where the buyers viewed U.S. cotton in spinners’ warehouses, and inspected each company’s manufacturing facilities producing U.S. cotton-rich denims, knitwear, sportswear and garments. Within weeks of the Tour reports were received that orders have been placed for denim at an estimated value of more than $825,000 over the next six months.

Sustainable U.S. Cotton Gains Popularity at Evteks Home Textile Trade Fair

2009 (May)
CCI touted U.S. cotton’s sustainability and its significance in home textiles at Evteks, the world’s 2nd largest home textile show. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the fair in Istanbul, welcoming over 75,000 visitors. An estimated 3,000 visitors to the COTTON USA stand at the show learned about the U.S. cotton industry’s solid track record on producing cotton in a sustainable manner. CCI distributed brochures and buttons featuring messages such as “My natural choice is cotton” and invited visitors to participate in CCI’s Natural World T-shirt design contest. During the fair, two companies expressed interest in joining the COTTON USA licensing program and taking advantage of its numerous benefits. CCI has participated in Evteks as a prime sponsor for five years.

Picture of two people in front of booth at the Evteks Home Textile Trade Fair Picture of attendees at a conference at the Evt

Record Number of Companies Inquire About COTTON USA at Texworld and Première Vision

2009 (February)
A record number of companies approached CCI regarding COTTON USA licensing agreements at the two trade shows in Paris, despite the economic climate preventing a number of visitors from attending. Key benefits such as customized sourcing services and a cost-free license to use the Mark proved to be popular selling points for COTTON USA and U.S. cotton. Texworld and Première Vision represent the largest combined exhibition of the world’s leading textile mills, and the U.S. cotton booth provided a full repertoire of U.S. cotton information from CCI, Cotton Incorporated and Supima. Key European and international brands and retailers visited the U.S. cotton booths, including Marks and Spencer, Abercrombie and Fitch, Bueltel, Stefanel, Calamar, J. Crew, Chicco, Sainsbury’s and SRG.

Pic of two ladies at the booth at Texworld exhibition Pic of a group of visitors at the booth at Texworld exhibition Pic of three ladies stand at the booth at Texworld exhibition

Lean Manufacturing Seminars in Turkey Offer Valuable Strategies

2009 (January)
Turkey’s leading textile and garment manufacturers learned how lean manufacturing can improve the efficiency of their business during a two day seminar in Istanbul held by CCI in cooperation with [TC]². The training focused on providing a better understanding of the requirements for lean manufacturing and its impact on the culture of an organization. The seminar also included information on cotton’s sustainability from Cotton Incorporated. Over 30 top executives received training, an opportunity available exclusively to COTTON USA licensees, and many expressed an interest in further education in lean manufacturing. The seminars also generated a dialogue on cooperation between CCI and the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association. Following the seminars, [TC]² and CCI visited one of Turkey’s most-respected jeans manufacturers to give further insight to the lean processes.

Pic of a group sitting at a seminar Pic of group at the Lean Manufacturing Seminar

Pic of three men listening to an interpreter at the Lean Manufacturing Seminar

U.S. Cotton Contacts Meet at Heimtextil and “Cotton Club”

2009 (January)
Visitors to the U.S. cotton booth at Heimtextil in Germany viewed a sampling of U.S. cotton-rich bed and bath linens, used CCI’s sourcing services to identify new suppliers of U.S. cotton-rich products, and learned about cotton-related environmental issues. Sixteen COTTON USA licensees from China, Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom displayed their products at Heimtextil. CCI, Cotton Incorporated and Supima represented the U.S. cotton industry at the trade show. During the event, CCI interviewed key decision makers from highly reputable German brands and retailers for a COTTON USA “vodcast” in which they explained why cotton, and especially U.S. cotton, is important for their business. The subsequent “Cotton Club,” CCI’s signature networking event, gave COTTON USA global partners the opportunity to extend supply chain contacts worldwide. About 110 people attended the event, which included a cotton trivia game, comedians and live music.

Pic of woman viewing display of cotton towels and bathrobes Pic of a display of cotton towels and bathroom

Pic of a man and woman sitting and discussing cotton samplings

Pic of group of people at Heimtextil Conference