Sou de Algodão publishes the balance of the SouABR 2022-2023 Program

The Sou de Algodão movement, an initiative of the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), has just released the balance of the SouABR Program for the 2022/2023 periods. In total, there were almost 21,5 thousand tracked bales produced by the farms, 12.606 bales in 2022, and 8.884 bales in 2023. Retailers, the final link in the chain, placed more than 59 thousand tracked pieces on the shelf in 2022, and more than 68 thousand in 2023. The Reserve, the first to be made available on the market, already has 105.284 pieces tracked, since October 2021, the program's launch date. Renner has 6.736 pieces since May 2022, and C&A has 7.830 pieces since May 2023. 

SouABR is the 1st blockchain traceability program in the Brazilian textile industry, officially launched on October 7, 2021, on World Cotton Day. It was born under the growing demands for more transparency in the buying, selling and consumption processes, and its proposal is to offer the public a kind of “x-ray” of the item they are purchasing, communicating the steps that the cotton in that item took until reach your hands. This is only possible thanks to Blockchain technology, which works as a secure bank of information organized into blocks and which prevents changes, identifying and informing about the production links: farm, spinning, weaving or knitting, clothing and retail.

SouABR numbers in 2022/2023

As the released report shows, in 2023, 54 producers and 60 farms took part in the SouABR Program, with a total of 8.884 bales tracked, compared to 25 producers, 32 farms and 12.606 bales tracked in 2022.

In relation to spinning mills, 1.192.605,08 kg of yarn were produced in 2022, and 1.016.083,73 kg in the following year. The tracked companies Cataguases, Fiação Fio Puro, Incofios, Renaux View, Santana Textiles and Vicunha produced a total of 2.208.688,81 kg of yarn during the period.

The weaving companies Cataguases, Renaux View, Santana Textiles and Vicunha produced a total of 38.876,56 m of fabrics and the Dalila Têxtil knitwear factory manufactured 92.444,55 kg of fabrics in the years analyzed. There were 24.207,11 m of fabric and 51.130,78 kg of mesh in 2022, and 14.669,45 m of fabric and 41.313,77 kg of mesh in 2023.

Production and manufacturing of traceable parts

With regard to clothing, the companies tracked By Cotton, Cataguases, Ease, Emphasis, Jace Confecções and Ufo Way produced 107.217 pieces in 2022, and 52.493 pieces in 2023, resulting in 159.710 pieces produced.

With retailers Reserva, Renner, YouCom, Almagrino, C&A and Dendezeiro, 127.425 tracked pieces were produced in the period, divided into different collections. For Fernando Sigal, product director at Reserva, the sustainable production process begins with the choice of raw materials. “The preference for certified and traceable cotton demonstrates a commitment not only to the quality of the products, but to an entire scenario of socio-environmental responsibility and transparency in the textile industry. Working towards an increasingly positive impact, ensuring fair working relationships and responsible production, is crucial to remaining standing as a brand fit for our time,” he said.

The SouABR Program and socio-environmental certification

SouABR was born thanks to consumer behavior and, therefore, continues to encourage more conscious choices, demonstrating that the cotton present in that piece of clothing has socio-environmental certification by the ABR (Responsible Brazilian Cotton) program. There are 183 verification items distributed across eight criteria: employment contract; prohibition of child labor and prohibition of work similar to slavery, unworthy or degrading, as required; freedom of union association; prohibition of discrimination against people; safety, health and environment of rural work; environmental performance; and good agricultural practices. 

For Alexandre Schenkel, president of Abrapa, the SouABR program is paving the way for a more ethical, transparent and responsible textile industry in Brazil, demonstrating that fashion and conscious consumption can go hand in hand. “The entire textile chain needs to be committed, and SouABR’s challenge is not just about numbers, delivering tracked pieces and showing the farms’ certificates. It’s about showing what we do best, within the country, highlighting the commitment we have to people and the work we generate,” he declared.