Certified organic cotton: H&M tops the ranking of global users 

By

Anne-Sophie Savenier

Published
Aug 11, 2014

H&M has topped the rankings of the largest users of certified organic cotton in the world. The Swedish textile giant, which took first place in 2010 and 2011, is followed by C&A, which topped the podium in 2012, and Puma, which cracked the top three for the time this year.

These are followed by Nike, Decathlon, Tchibo, Coop Swiss, Target, Willams-Sonoma and Inditex (Zara).

This year’s ranking demonstrated no major changes as compared with 2012, except for the arrival of two new players: Decathlon (5th) and Tchibo (6th) at the expense of Carrefour and Anvil Knitwear, which is not among the ten largest users of certified organic cotton in the world for the first time in five years.

Also noteworthy: the fall of Inditex to 10th place. The Spanish brand had held 8th place in 2012 and fourth in 2011 and 2010.

Meanwhile, in terms of growth of consumption by value (not volume) compared to last year, the Belgian organic cotton t-shirt specialist Stanley & Stella, Target and Coyuchi, the American label specializing in home linens, occupy the top spots. They are followed by Puma, G-Star, Kowa, Williams-Sonoma, H&M, C&A and Inditex.

As regards this second ranking, the biggest changes have been for C&A. Indeed, while the German textile brand occupied the top spot in 2012, it only came in at 9th place in 2013.

H&M also lost a place (8th). As for Nike, didn’t even make the list, a sign that there are important new market players, such as G-Star and Coyuchi. That could well change in the coming years.