hessnatur Organic Cotton Pioneer

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1 05 hessnatur Organic Cotton Pioneer Future Shapers A Decade of Innovation in Textile Sustainability ( ) hessnatur has been governed by a simple principle for the last 36 years: Human beings should live in harmony with each other and with nature. Respect for the planet and its people is fundamental to the way we do business, interact with our customers, our partners and each other. We will not compromise our environmental integrity or our design aesthetics. This vision of Heinz Hess, founder of the company, was personal it took shape in 1976 when his son Matthias was born. He only wanted to dress his newborn in the most natural clothes available. Very soon, he realised that such clothes were not available. Heinz Hess decided to set up a business selling garments made of natural fibres, and over the years he went further, focusing on more sustainable production processes and social standards. Part of hessnatur s journey was also the initiation of an organic cotton farming project in Egypt the first project of this kind within the textile industry. Soon, similar projects in other parts of the world followed, and today, all of hessnatur s cotton products are made of 100% organic cotton. p 1

2 Growing organic cotton means that we are eliminating pesticide-related illnesses which helps to improve the personal as well as economic well-being of farmers and their families. Part of our Burkina Faso project provides educational opportunities, for children and for adults. We believe that we can work together to improve the lives of everyone in ways that aren t just for today - but for their future. p 2 Maximilian Lang, Managing Director hessnatur

3 Location: Butzbach (near Frankfurt/Main), Germany Type of Business Specialist in natural and ecological clothing with different sales channels: 1) mail order (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA), 2) online, and 3) retail (3 stores in Germany, 1 Outlet) Turnover (2011): 73 Million/annum Number of Employees: 334 (incl. employees in stores and customer service in Switzerland) Began selling organic cotton products 1993 OC Value Chain Partners: National Union of Cotton Producers of Burkina Faso (direct involvement) as well as numerous spinners, weavers and manufacturers in different countries Sustainability Collection: Specialist in Organic & Fair Trade products made from natural fibres for women, men, kids and babies: nightwear, shoes, and home textiles Certifications/Memberships: Fair Wear Foundation, GOTS, TÜV Süd, B Corp, Fair Trade Targets: Develop and strengthen strategic alliances with partner organisations to secure supply of Organic & Fair Trade fibres and operate in a fair and transparent manner Recent Recognition: Organic Textile Recognition Award (for first organic cotton farming project, 1996); International Design Award (for first organic wedding gown, 1999); Ethics in Business (2005); national certificate for worklife balance from the German government (for being a progressive family-oriented company, 2006 & 2010); Public Eye Positive Award (for ground-breaking initiatives in the field, 2008); German Sustainability Award (2008), Ethics in Business (2005) p 3

4 p 4 Success Factors: Was an early mover in organic cotton (first organic cotton farming project within the industry) Operates at the forefront of sustainable textiles innovation Retains considerable influence over the various production stages from farm to fashion Holds long-term view to build up strategic partnerships with organic cotton farmers associations and other more sustainable fibres Has tools in place to measure and monitor progress (e.g. management system) Backs up sustainability claims through certification and memberships: Fair Wear Foundation, IVN, GOTS Operates a holistic approach that enables them to meet the sustainability demands of customers in different markets PHOTOS: Heinz Hess and his son Matthias In the Beginning When Matthias, the son of environmentalist Heinz Hess was born, he was determined to dress his newborn in only the most sustainable clothes available. Since he couldn t find such clothes in the shops, his company, in 1976, started to focus on designing clothes that were exclusively made from natural fibres - wool, silk, cotton and linen. Soon, Heinz broadened his ambition by expanding his sustainability focus to the finishing of clothes, such as dyeing. The company tried to convince suppliers to turn away from using chemicals, in fibre production and manufacturing, and to make them longer lasting. Although challenging in the beginning, hessnatur succeeded over time; with increasing growth, the company also gained more leverage over its suppliers. Together they developed alternative ways for treating textiles, and by the mid-80s, all of hessnatur s suppliers had stopped the use of chemical resin finishings and heavy metal dyestuffs.

5 The Journey So Far... Creating Sustainable Fashion The first organic cotton project within the textile industry In the early 1990s, hessnatur added another focal point: raw materials. For the company, it was no longer enough to have natural fibres and chemical-free clothes. In 1991, hessnatur initiated the first organic cotton farming project in Egypt. Heinz Hess himself started the collaboration with Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish, owner and founder of Sekem, whose farms grew organic herbs and vegetables prior to hessnatur s involvement. The organic cotton yield was of a very high quality and the fibres of long staple length. These superior characteristics over conventional cotton laid the foundation for future organic cotton projects elsewhere. Over the coming years, hessnatur initiated projects in Senegal (1994), Peru (1995) and Turkey (1998). These early cotton projects stimulated many other innovative sustainable raw material projects of hessnatur including the re-cultivation of the German Rhoen sheep (1997) and later the organic linen project in the state of Hesse, Germany (2006). PHOTOS: Harvesting cotton, Burkina Faso p 5

6 Helvetas is pleased to partner with hessnatur, committed to increase organic and fair trade cotton with the longterm benefit for farmers in Burkina Faso. We hope that more companies will follow the example of hessnatur. Tobias Meier, Head of Fair Trade, Helvetas Making social standards transparent and tangible Although humane labour conditions were always a central production principle for hessnatur, in 2002 the company joined forces with the Clean Clothes Campaign and developed an innovative audit and inspection program to uphold social standards in its supply chain and to make conditions transparent to consumers and other stakeholders. In 2005, the company became the first German company to certify their clean production processes through the Dutch multi-stakeholder initiative Fair Wear Foundation. The company also expects its suppliers to share its ethical values by adhering to hessnatur s Code of Conduct, based on ILO Core Conventions. These commitments ensure that hessnatur not only achieve chemical-free status in farming and manufacturing, they also ensure that workers producing their garments from field to finished product are treated fairly. Expanding the organic cotton commitment p 6 hessnatur s organic cotton journey reached a new milestone in 2005 when the company entered into a partnership with the Swiss development organisation Helvetas. Helvetas supports hessnatur in sourcing Organic & Fair Trade cotton directly from Burkina Faso through the farmers association National Union of Cotton Producers of Burkina Faso (UNPCB). This project grew rapidly. Within the first two years, more than 2,000 farmers participated in the project, and today, the project numbers around 7,000 farmers. Collaborating on this initiative, both hessnatur and Helvetas can draw on decades of experience within organic cotton farming in 1991, when Heinz Hess founded his first project in Egypt, Helvetas sold its first certified organic cotton T-Shirt.

7 Working holistically towards sustainability Up until 2007, hessnatur invested heavily in its green credentials and became wellknown for them. However, at the time, hessnatur operated within an industry where organic garments suffered from the image of being less fashionable than conventionally made clothes. The company took a conscious decision to rebrand by offering younger and more fashionable clothes. The success shows in the last year alone the company achieved a turnover 10 percent higher compared to the previous year. Despite its increasingly commercial focus, the company never compromised on its sustainability principles, and today, sustainability at hessnatur stands solidly of four pillars: 1. Ecology: focuses on human toxicity and environmental toxicology 2. Social standards: includes improvements of working conditions 3. Fair Trade relations: covers both suppliers (e.g. Fair Trade cotton) and customers (by providing transparent information on the social and environmental characteristics of each garment) 4. Sustainable production: involves aspects such as life-cycle assessment, resource efficiency, transparency along the supply chain, and regional production PHOTOS: Sharing the joy of harvest, Burkina Faso p 7

8 Value Chain Partners... Creating Trusted Partnerships p 8 Since 2005, hessnatur has been collaborating with UNPCB (National Union of Cotton Producers of Burkina Faso) on an Organic & Fair Trade cotton project. This project is facilitated by the Swiss development organisation Helvetas which supports cotton farmers to convert to organic production by strengthening the business management and marketing capacities of UNPCB and by managing the coexistence with genetically modified cotton. For hessnatur, Helvetas has been a vital partner in establishing effective communication channels with the farmers association in Burkina Faso. hessnatur s commitment to Organic & Fair Trade cotton does not stop at the farm level though. In order to turn the raw material into a finished product, the company developed a new supplier network in India which involves investing in long-term relationships with spinning mills, weavers and manufacturers certified to process the Organic & Fair Trade cotton. The Burkina Faso project offers hessnatur direct involvement with organic cotton, but the company also sources organic cotton indirectly from spinning mills who have direct contracts with farmers. These contracts enable the mills to source certified organic cotton on behalf of hessnatur. This is how it works in Turkey where hessnatur currently sources its largest volume of organic cotton. For hessnatur, this is a strategic partnership where the mill produces organic cotton jersey PHOTOS: (Top) Alpaca Project, Peru (Bottom) Carrying out quality control at Alpaca processing plant, Peru

9 fabrics and all of hessnatur s garment manufacturers in the region then source jerseys from this particular mill. This guarantees hessnatur that cotton fabrics are made from 100% certified organic cotton. hessnatur s experience with its Organic & Fair Trade cotton supply chain in Burkina Faso (farming) and India (spinning and weaving), their set up in Turkey, or their many other unique fibre supply chains (e.g. organic silk, organic linen), convinces them that it is becoming increasingly important to develop longterm, strategic and transparent alliances. Whether these are direct alliances (e.g. the farming project in Burkina Faso) or indirect (e.g. organic cotton sourced by a Turkish mill), it will remain a high priority for hessnatur to retain its considerable influence over the various production stages; including fibre production, processing and garment manufacturing. An in-house management system and strict guidelines have been developed that enables the company to manage this process by specifying and collecting information from the fibre to the finished product (e.g. dyes used, production locations). Plans are also in place to form more strategic alliances with farmers associations in different parts of the world. With recent developments in the organic cotton environment (e.g. the Indian cotton embargo, threat from the rise of GMO cotton production globally), these partnerships and alliances will be a mechanism for hessnatur to mitigate and ensure the continuous supply of organic cotton for the future. PHOTOS: (Top) Organic linen project, Germany (Bottom) First industry organic cotton farming project in Egypt p 9

10 Making a Difference Perhaps one of the biggest achievements of Heinz Hess was that through his continuous commitment, he created a market for organic cotton. He paved the way for other retailers to incorporate organic cotton products in their clothing ranges which ultimately has a far bigger impact than the actual volume of organic cotton that hessnatur sources for its own products. PHOTOS: (Top & Bottom) School students in class in Burkina Faso. The first hessnatur cotton project was with Sekem farm, which today, has now grown to be an impressive community of businesses, schools and non-profit initiatives within the social, cultural and health sector in Egypt. The lessons from this first project have also shaped hessnatur s future organic cotton projects. In Burkina Faso, the company works together with UNPCB and Helvetas to provide farmers with a new perspective for the future. This project embodies everything that hessnatur stands for: to protect the environment while ensuring the wellbeing of farmers. 7,000 farmers currently farm 4,000ha of land. hessnatur also guarantees farmers that they will buy their Organic & Fair Trade cotton at the end of the season for which the farmers receive a 20% premium for producing organically, and an additional 20% Fair Trade premium. Whereas farmers receive the organic premium directly, the Fair Trade premium is paid to UNPCB which uses the funds for community projects such as freshwater boreholes, financial supporting of school canteens and educational training for children and illiterate adults. hessnatur, together with its customers, has also provided resources to purchase learning p 10

11 materials as well as sponsoring a school food program in these farming communities providing more than 400 children with a warm meal every day. hessnatur is committed to increase its Organic & Fair Trade cotton (combined) products to 100%, and is currently in the process of building its product range as more Organic & Fair Trade cotton becomes available from this project in Burkina Faso. The positive impact that hessnatur has on people and the planet is not just confined to its commitment towards Organic & Fair Trade cotton. The company has also launched a number of other projects on more sustainable fibres including wool from Alpacas (Peru) and Rhoen sheep (Germany), organic linen (Germany) and organic silk (China). While focusing on sound environmental techniques, they also support local people in sustaining their livelihoods by buying guaranteed minimum volumes and paying fair prices and wages. PHOTOS: (Top) Organic silk project, China (Bottom) Social commitment through NEPRA project, Nepal p 11

12 Advocacy and Leadership hessnatur is a unique player within the fashion industry given its holistic approach to sustainability based on four pillars - ecology, social standards, fair-trade relations and sustainable production. This has become a company philosophy rather than marketing strategy. To use just one example, its audit system developed in partnership with the Clean Clothes Campaign is regarded by experts as a milestone for international labour rights. In a narrower context, the company has pushed boundaries in different ways, but first and foremost in terms of product innovation. In addition to raising the bar within the industry by publically committing to 100% organic cotton, 80% organic linen and 40% organic wool and increasing these figures regularly the company has its own development unit as part of its Corporate Responsibility department. Unlike in other companies where new product ideas have to be discussed with buyers that tend to primarily focus on price and availability, hessnatur invests heavily in developing new products themselves. For example the company was at the forefront of developing eco-leather alternatives, and because of its strong influence over every stage within the supply chain, they are easily able to implement these innovations. PHOTOS: Humanity in Fashion 2012 award winner. p 12 In an effort to encourage the next generation of sustainable fashion designers, hessnatur created the Humanity in Fashion Award (HIFA) now presented annually at Berlin Fashion Week. The winner receives a financial award, but also gets the opportunity to create a women s capsule collection for hessnatur.

13 Telling the Story Where to Next? With a diverse customer base - the company sells in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the USA - telling the stories behind hessnatur products is important. There is a noticeable difference in consumer behaviour in the US where customer awareness and demands for sustainability are not as passionate as they are already in Europe. In Europe, too, there are differences. Switzerland, for example, shows a bigger focus on Fair Trade, whereas the German customer by tradition focuses more on the environment, but with an increasing awareness of social aspects in the supply chain. For hessnatur, they have discovered it pays off to have a holistic approach towards sustainability that covers all these aspects regardless of customer demands. To inform customers about their work, the company uses a number of different platforms such as its catalogue and website. Explaining sustainability aspects within a supply chain or as green fashion is not easy though. hessnatur therefore uses its catalogue and corporate blog to send out regular messages to its customers. For the company it is also important that all its employees can spread the message and so the company trains staff in their shops and call centres by providing basic tutorials and deeper individual learning sessions. In the past, a number of customers were fortunate to go on a Peruvian journey by travelling along the textile chain of Alpaca. Thanks to the vision of founder Heinz Hess, the company has managed to become an established player within the sustainable fashion industry and was able to differentiate itself from conventional textile retailers. A big goal for the company is to offer all its textile products in 100% organic fibres which it is currently not able to do due to the lack of sufficient supply in the market. Currently, hessnatur has 100% organic cotton, 80% organic wool, 50% organic silk and 40% organic linen, and is investing in more sustainable production processes. hessnatur certainly has the knowledge and expertise to realise its ambition. One of the next major steps for the company will be to engage in more long-term, trusted relationships like the one with UNPCB in Burkina Faso. This will create a win-win situation for both sides. While farmer groups or other partners along the supply chain will benefit from a buy-back-guarantee and premium prices, hessnatur will be able to spread supply risks between different initiatives and countries, and in doing so, secure the sustainable raw materials and processes the company needs to continue to be one of the leaders in this field. p 13

14 For more information on hessnatur, please visit: Textile Exchange inspires and equips people to accelerate sustainable practices in the textile value chain. We focus on minimizing the harmful impacts and maximizing the positive effects of the global textile industry. Our signature program focuses on organic cotton value chains; improving lives for farmers, stimulating markets, and supporting best practice. Website: farmhub.textileexchange.org/ Copyright. All rights reserved.