Improving Visibility in Cotton Supply Chains to Achieve Transparency

This case study examines a pilot project conducted between 2020 and 2022 by Swedish retailer Kappahl and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to map the organic cotton supply chains of four garment lines. Using the SupplyShift platform, the project aimed to increase visibility and transparency from farm to retail to manage environmental and socio-economic risks and comply with emerging sustainability regulations.

• Kappahl successfully mapped three tiers of its supply chain for four Newbie organic cotton baby apparel garments, reaching down to the spinner or ginner. This allowed the company to identify the names and locations of Tier 1 suppliers and the roles of Tier 2 and 3 suppliers, which helps in identifying risks such as pest infestations or extreme weather events caused by climate change.
• The project highlighted significant difficulties in engaging middle-tier suppliers (Tiers 2 and 3). These actors were unfamiliar with supply chain mapping requests and struggled with the SupplyShift online platform due to low technological proficiency and accessibility issues, requiring more intensive support via phone, email, and webinars than initially expected.
• To achieve full end-to-end visibility, the report suggests combining top-down mapping (from brand to farm) with bottom-up mapping (from farm to brand). Kappahl achieved this by linking the pilot's data with farm- and household-level data from a separate project conducted with the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA).
• Voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs), such as Better Cotton, Organic, and the Global Organic Textile Standard, act as 'pseudo-governance systems' that facilitate transparency. They provide common indicators for performance measurement and require chain-of-custody documentation that simplifies the process of mapping supply chains for companies using compliant materials.
• The report identifies a risk of 'supplier information request fatigue' as more brands demand transparency. To mitigate this, the authors recommend that clothing manufacturers and retailers coordinate their information requests and standardize the questions used in visibility and transparency processes.
• The pilot was driven in part by emerging regulatory pressures, including the European Commission’s February 2022 proposal for a corporate sustainability due diligence directive and the French Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy Law, which mandated environmental impact disclosures for textile companies starting in January 2023.

APA

Elder, S., Voora, V., & Courtemanche, P. (2023). Improving Visibility in Cotton Supply Chains to Achieve Transparency. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-02/cotton-supply-chain-kappahl-pilot-project.pdf

Chicago

Elder, Sara, Vivek Voora, and Pierre Courtemanche. Improving Visibility in Cotton Supply Chains to Achieve Transparency. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-02/cotton-supply-chain-kappahl-pilot-project.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Elder |first1=Sara |last2=Voora |first2=Vivek |last3=Courtemanche |first3=Pierre |title=Improving Visibility in Cotton Supply Chains to Achieve Transparency |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=February 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-02/cotton-supply-chain-kappahl-pilot-project.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{elder2023improving, author = {Elder, Sara and Voora, Vivek and Courtemanche, Pierre}, title = {{Improving Visibility in Cotton Supply Chains to Achieve Transparency}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-02/cotton-supply-chain-kappahl-pilot-project.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }