Australian-born global traceability experts FibreTrace have signed a partnership deal with Target Corporation in the US, alongside a food corporation Cargill, to trace its cotton supply chain.
In this partnership, Target will be able to verify the origin of cotton fibre in real-time, with 50,000 metric tons of US and Brazilian raw cotton being marked in the first year, after first marking US cotton in November 2023.
“FibreTrace is thrilled to partner with Target and Cargill to deliver innovation, transparency, and fibre integrity for US and Brazilian cotton,” FibreTrace head of Americas Mitch Standen said.
“We hope that this partnership will inspire a ripple effect of change, demonstrating to other companies what is possible,” said Danielle Statham, Founder & Managing Director of FibreTrace.
“We encourage the level of traceability this partnership provides to customers for other brands to follow our lead.”
Target SVP and president of owned brands Bill Foudy said its top priority is to achieve full visibility of the entire cotton supply chain, including where it’s grown.
“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. Pigments are then scanned and tracked at each point across the supply chain, with real-time onsite identification and verification.
Data is then 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,” Cargill Cotton managing director Matt Dunbar said.
“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.”