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 2,000 mill and manufactuer members from 40 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.

Mills and manufacturers play a crucial part in the Trust Protocol and are vital to enabling article-level supply chain transparency through the Protocol Consumption Management Solution (PCMS).

The PCMS is our traceability and transparency solution that allows the tracking of U.S. Cotton and cotton specifically grown on Protocol producers’ farms.

Mill and manufacturer members create articles in the system that are then tracked and shipped, record individual shipments to other Trust Protocol mill members, and upload commercial invoices and shipping documents.

These actions help ensure that the data is accurately captured, which in turn aids in assuring brands and retailers of their products’ transactions throughout the supply chain. Without these necessary steps and without mill and manufacturers’ active involvement in the program, brands and retailers would not receive the transparency map that offers traceability.

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;

“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.

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Deepika Mishra

Standards and Data Lead (consultant)

Deepika Mishra is the Standards and Data Lead for the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, acting as a consultant for the program. As an accomplished scientist and data analytics specialist, Deepika leads on analysis of the Trust Protocol’s environmental metrics. She collaborates extensively with agricultural research institutions, conservation groups, and food and trade organizations, playing a vital role in the establishment of sustainability and social standards within the industry.

Deepika earned her Ph.D. in plant and soil science from Texas Tech University, specializing in cotton breeding and genetics. With over a decade of experience, she has spearheaded diverse agricultural projects in both India and the United States, covering crops like cotton, cowpeas, castor, sesame, guar, guayule, tomato, and field pennycress (cover crop). Her contributions also include the development and release of multiple cowpea varieties in India during her M.S. studies in vegetable breeding and genetics.