When consumers want the most comfortable, high quality underwear and innerwear they look to the Gunze brand.
“Our company specializes in being able to use new technology to add value to our cotton products,” said Hatsuoka Tadashi at Thai Gunze.
“For example, we are able to add polyurethane to cotton using a special heat technology creating a fabric with a very smooth surface.
“We also are using seamless technology for our men’s briefs, for better fit and added comfort. It’s one of our strongest products.”
The company produces its own circular knit fabrics through to the cutting and sewing of the garments.
Good Products From Good People
“Our philosophy has always been that ‘good people create good products’. So, it means that we put emphasis on what we call our ‘ human capital assets’. We take care of our local staff through a huge amount of investment in their education and training. This is a key part of how we are able to make better products,” said Mr. Tadashi.
However the foundation of the fabric quality is the investment Thai Gunze makes in purchasing the best quality cotton.
“The reason we love U.S. cotton is because, firstly, the supply is stable and the quality amongst the lots is also stable. Secondly, the quality is very good, especially the whiteness of U.S. cotton is outstanding, which is very important for manufacturing high quality innerwear. In addition, the hand feel of the finished product made with U.S. cotton is very good. If you compare it to other kinds of cotton, it is far superior,” he said.
A Sustainable and Stable
Supply of Cotton
Today brands are not only talking about being more sustainable, they need to take action and be able to prove that they are meeting increasingly strict sustainability targets within their companies – as well as complying with more laws and standards.
“The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol® provides greater trust and that our products are sustainable,” said Mr. Tadashi.
“Our philosophy has always been that ‘good people create good products’. We put emphasis on what we call our ‘human capital assets’.”
“Society now requires greater traceability or accountability for products. So, that’s another reason why we choose to become a member of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol®. We know that their cotton is grown using sustainable methods, and now with the Trust Protocol we can have documentation that helps us prove our materials meet these standards – and that our supply chain is traceable.
“We understand that the objective of the Trust Protocol is to provide the perfect traceability or accountability and Thai Gunze is aligned with this objective. We want to contribute to protecting the planet.
An Eye on Expanding DTC
Like an increasing number of companies, Gunze sees big opportunities in selling its products directly to consumers (DTC).
“We are now expanding our direct sales channels Firstly we are expanding our e-commerce business to sell directly to the consumers in Japan. We are also putting more emphasis on our direct merchandise channels in brick-and-mortar retail. Our plans are to add more shops both in our domestic market and overseas,” said Mr. Tadashi.
The company’s core DTC product is called Body Wild, an underwear brand for men, with a fashion concept.
Thai Gunze is also developing products for the health and wellness sector, where it sees a lot of growth opportunities.
“For example, we are now in the R&D stage of developing special underwear for women who are recovering from breast cancer surgery. Some of the models are already launched in the market,” he said.
“We are also developing homewear that we aim to sell in Thailand’s domestic market.”
By hiring good people, investing in R&D and choosing high quality raw materials, Thai Gunze is paving the way for a successful future.
Email. www.thaigunze.co.th/contact/
Tel. +66 2 681 8131 | www.thaigunze.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
