A Full Line of
Organic & Cage Free
Eggs & Egg Products
Shell, Dry, Liquid/Frozen, ESL
Industrial, Food Service,
& Retail Packaging Available
“Eggs Produced the Way Nature Intended!”
Farmer’s Organic Foods
International, LLC
P.O. Box 23
Blair, WI 54616 USA;
Tel: 608-989-2500 • Fax: 608-989-2524
Web: www.farmersorganicfoods.com
(Details continued from page 11)
Washable Organic Wool Wins Award
Vermont Organic Fiber Company’s (V TOF) new O-Wool
Washable fabrics were a key element in the design that won the
People’s Choice Award in Outdoor Retailer’s (OR) “Project OR”
competition. These fabrics are the nation’s first washable Merino
wool textiles made with
wool grown and certified
to the USDA organic standard. Project OR handpicked five design students
to produce a garment prototype that was an innovative use of performance
and eco-friendly materials.
Curt Sousa, from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in
Los Angeles, CA, used V TOF’s new organic washable wool fabric to
make the leggings for his design. The fabric is made in three outdoor apparel weights, (150g/m2, 220g/m2, and 250g/m2), and uses
a proprietary process to prevent shrinking and “felting” during
washing. The process uses hydrogen peroxide and mechanical
action instead of chlorine and uses one-third of the water used by
traditional treatments. It also meets the Oeko-Tex Standard 100,
which tests textile products to ensure they are free from harmful
levels of more than 100 substances known to be detrimental to
human health.
Global Organic Cotton Market Hits $3.2 Billion
Global retail sales of organic cotton apparel and home
textile products reached an estimated $3.2 billion in 2008,
according to the Organic Cotton Market
Report 2007-2008 released by the non-profit organization Organic Exchange.
This represents a 63 percent increase
from the $1.9 billion market in 2007.
The top 10 organic cotton-using brands
and retailers globally were Wal-Mart, C&A,
Nike, H&M, Zara, Anvil, Coop Switzerland, Pottery Barn,
Greensource, and Hess Natur.
Despite the global retail outlook, most brands and retailers selling organic cotton products remain committed to
their sustainability plans and upbeat about market growth,
with plans to expand their product lines 24 and 33 percent
in 2009 and 2010, respectively, to result in an estimated $4
billion market in 2009 and a $5.3 billion market in 2010.
In addition, the number of organic cotton farmers grew
worldwide in 2007/08 increased 152 percent, according to
OE’s Organic Cotton Farm and Fiber Report 2008, organic cotton production increased to 145,872 metric tons (MT)
(668,581 bales) grown on 161,000 hectares in 22 countries
worldwide from 57,932 MT (265,517 bales) produced in
2006/07).
