Mills and Manufacturers

Evolving attitudes regarding sustainability and changing priorities among brands, retailers and consumers are creating demand for greater sustainability and transparency throughout the entire supply chain.
With the increased scrutiny on sustainability, brands and retailers want to ensure what they buy is what they get, with raw material sourcing more important today than ever before. Trust Protocol research found that raw material sourcing was the most common response to the question of a brand or retailer’s main area of focus in the next 12 months.

Mills and manufacturers who join the Trust Protocol are provided a host of benefits, with the biggest being they can be identified as part of a fully transparent supply chain and selected by brands and retailers as they look to source U.S. Cotton.

Since the Trust Protocol’s launch, the program has welcomed more than 1,200 mill and manufacturer members from 30 countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Tunisia China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the United States. The program also added 40 global brands and retailers including J.Crew, Madewell, Levi Strauss & Co. and, Gap Inc. as well as global apparel manufacturer Gildan.

Membership benefits in the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol for mills and manufacturers include:

  • Opportunity to be identified as part of a fully transparent supply chain and be selected by brands as they look to source U.S. Cotton
  • Ability to use the Trust Protocol logo and materials to communicate about sustainability goals
  • Recognition on the Trust Protocol website
  • Access to a specialized package of technical support free of charge for members who license U.S. cotton and participate in the Trust Protocol

Frontier Yarns, Inc. has a commitment to sustainability throughout all facets of our manufacturing operations. This includes zero waste practices, efficient energy usage and acquiring raw materials, such as U.S. cotton, in order to supply sustainable and recycled products to our customers.

The Trust Protocol’s emphasis on measurement and independent verification can provide the confidence and trust that more responsibly grown cotton is being used, producing product consumers can believe in. Frontier Yarns, Inc. is excited to be part of the Trust Protocol.

As brands and retailers respond to customer demand for sustainability, mills are now joining the conversation. Membership in the program enables us to show we are an approved supply chain partner for brands and retailers who are sourcing more sustainably grown cotton.

Frontier Yarns

Mike Quinn

Vice President of Operations
Gildan/Frontier Yarns Inc.

Cost Structure for Supply Chain Participants

The annual Trust Protocol mill membership fee is $500 which permits the registration of a corporate headquarter and one additional manufacturing subsidiary. Additional subsidiaries where U.S. cotton will be processed can be registered for a fee per subsidiary as follows;

  • for 2nd to the 10th subsidiary $100 per subsidiary up to a maximum of $500 total additional fees
  • for anything beyond the 10th subsidiary an additional fee of $500 per subsidiary will be incurred

“The reason we joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol was to show as U.S. cotton producers, we’re growing a good quality product, using the best quality practices available today.”

Parkdale Mills

Jim Martin

Vice President of Cotton Operations at Parkdale Mills

oUR pARTNERS

We are proud to work with the following members.

Learn More

View our Resources page

Access information about sustainable cotton and the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol.

Deepika Mishra

Sustainability Consultant

Deepika is a passionate, innovative, enthusiastic scientist with demonstrated ability to lead and collaborate worldwide in the development of novel life sciences technologies and techniques to enhance sustainable agriculture to have a true impact that addresses challenges of climate change. She works as a sustainability consultant for the National Cotton Council and Cotton Council International.