While manufacturers typically focus on efficiency and product quality, Thai Industries Development also puts an equal amount of effort in the care of its workers.
“We’re very quality oriented. We try to make the best products – and then improve upon them even further. At the same time, we are a family run business so we see our workers as part of our family,” said Jamie Sirikietsoong.
“We also are trying to find new ways to be more efficient, so that we can offer products at competitive prices to our partners or our customers. However compassion for our workers is never compromised,” he explained.
A Rising Demand for Quality Cotton Yarn
“During the past six months the demand has been a bit overwhelming. Normally we sell about 70 percent of our production to the domestic market, but now about 80 percent of our business is exports,” said Mr. Sirikietsoong.
“We are trying to find ways to be more efficient and so that we can offer products at competitive prices. However, compassion for our workers is never compromised.”
Thailand has a lot of small to medium size manufacturers that are well suited to working with some of the newer mid-sized brands. These brands tend to be more focused on quality rather than trying to get the lowest prices, which provides an important opportunity for Thai suppliers.
“I think we could be a good match for many of the new niche brands or DTC brands. And I am certainly very keen to grow our business with the export markets,” he said.
Meeting the Demand for Greater Transparency
Part of Thai Industries Development’s commitment quality involves using top quality cotton.
“U.S. cotton is the only cotton that gives very good traceability. We can trace it back to where it is grown and where each bale is from. There is tons of information about each bale,” said Mr. Sirikietsoong. Thai Industries Development has recently joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol®, which is helping them support their customers in meeting sustainability and transparency targets.
“Being part of the Trust Protocol gives a good image to portray to our customers. It shows that we are a trustworthy part of the supply chain.”
“We can trust the quality of U.S. cotton. It can help us plan our production. We can trust that we will get exactly what we ordered, and so we can plan accordingly.
“Also U.S. cotton has a good brand name so our customers trust us because we are using U.S. cotton. A lot of customers request that we only use U.S. cotton. The good image of U.S. cotton helps us sell our products,” said Mr. Sirikietsoong.
Preparing for the Future
Thai Industries Development is working on some new developments and sustainability plays a key role in these products.
“We’re trying to create new products that relate to sustainability, such as organic cotton, bamboo or recycled polyester. So it’s good to see that U.S. cotton is going the same way as what we are trying to do.”
Despite the challenges in the market, the future looks bright for mills like Thai Industries Development that are able to provide reliable, high quality products that support more sustainable and transparent supply chains.
Email. yarn-export@tid.co.th | Tel. (662) 2590123-9 | http://www.tid.co.th/
Certified Sustainable
The Trust Protocol is aligned with existing sustainability programs including the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. It brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to sustainable cotton production, and drives continuous improvement in six key sustainability metrics – land use, soil carbon, water management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy efficiency. The Trust Protocol is designed from the ground up to address the unique regulatory and larger farm growing environment in the United States.
How the Trust Protocol Works
The Protocol Consumption Management Solution (PCMS) starts at the gin when the participating producer’s cotton is ginned and each unique Permanent Bale Identification number (PBI) is attached. At this point we know the exact gin weight and can create an exact amount of Protocol Cotton Consumption Units, where one Protocol Cotton Consumption Unit is created for each kilogram of Protocol Verified Cotton. This important step provides absolute authentication of U.S. cotton origin, verifying against the USDA database.
Supply Chain Transparency
The PCMS harnesses blockchain technology through a powerful combination of the Trust Protocol platform and TextileGenesis™ system to deliver full supply chain transparency by recording and verifying the movement of U.S. cotton along the entire supply chain. This creates article-specific transparency for finished products that was not previously accessible to brands and retailers.
Trusted Third Party Certification
The Trust Protocol incorporates a comprehensive program of verification against Trust Protocol benchmarks, in the form of both second-party and independent third-party audits of grower performance through Control Union Certifications—the latter through allocated on-site visits.
Control Union Certifications has certified over 150 industry standards programs worldwide, including working as a key partner in the early development and piloting phases of Impact Claim Verification Protocol.
Learn More https://trustuscotton.org
The COTTON USA Advantage
- Family growers who are committed to working their fields sustainably and leaving them better for future generations.
- A long history of innovative harvesting and ginning technologies resulting in higher-quality cotton.
- One of the highest rates of adoption in the world for Precision Agriculture, which minimizes water and pesticide usage.
- U.S. farmers operate under voluminous, stringent, and enforceable regulations.
- A commitment to transparent partnership that is unmatched anywhere.
- One of the most comprehensive systems for monitoring and measuring all the key metrics involved in sustainability.
U.S. Cotton Facts
- 2/3 of U.S. cotton land uses only rain water
- U.S. cotton water use efficiency has improved by 79% over the past 35 years
- Cotton is carbon footprint neutral, meaning the plants remove more greenhouse gasses than production produces.
Sustainability Goals
The U.S. cotton industry is building upon the strong environmental gains already achieved over the past 35 years. The aim is to help members meet their current needs while making the world a better place for future generations.
Specific goals include:
- Reducing by 13 percent the amount of land needed to produce a pound of cotton fiber
- Reducing soil loss by 50 percent, in balance with new soil formation
- Increasing water use efficiency (more fiber per gallon) by 18 percent
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 39 percent
- Increasing soil carbon in fields by 30 percent
- Reducing energy to produce seed cotton and ginned lint by 15 percent
Learn More www.cotton.org
