Where does the organic cotton for our handkerchiefs come from?
Hello dear StoffOS fans,
"Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to know where the organic cotton in the handkerchiefs comes from.
Best regards,
Andreas P."
Today I received this question from a StoffOS prospect , which I answered with joy because I am so happy and satisfied with my business partners in India, so I thought it might be important for you to know as well.
When selecting our suppliers, the working conditions throughout the supply chain were just as important to me as the quality of the organic cotton, transparency, many years of experience and reliability.
And here you can read my answer:
"Dear Mr. P.,
Thank you for your interest in the origin of our StoffOS products.
Since mid-2022, we have been sourcing our knitted fabric products such as the fabric handkerchiefs, fabric napkins, recognizable by the rounded corners, and the woven fabric of the StoffOS To Go bags directly from India from the company Dibella India. This company is based in Bangalore. (I had attached the GOTS seal with number.)
It belongs to the Dibella Group, which is led by Ralf Hellmann as CEO. He has decades of experience in the organic cotton sector.
We are in personal contact with Ralf Hellmann, and Dibella Germany, for example, has our goods transported in their containers. https://www.dibellaindia.com/
The organic cotton growing areas from which this company sources its cotton are located in three rainy regions of India. Small farmers there have joined together to form CHETNA ORGANIC Farmers, see the file attached. And this link leads to Dibella India and the director of Chetna Organic Farmers.
https://www.dibellaindia.com/about
The knitted material Interlock jersey with a grammage of 180 g per square meter is produced especially for us in this form, because the Interlock jerseys manufactured there are usually heavier, at least 200 g/sqm.
The specialists for the traceability of cotton products from the company Tailorlux, Münster https://www.tailorlux.com/
had made contact with Dibella India. Thanks to Mr Herzog at this point. When I dared to go deep into the handkerchief business after the first successful sales test phase with products from another producer, I was finally able to order the large quantity requested by Dibella directly from India.
During a long phone call in the summer of 2022 with Dr. Sabine Ferenschild, the cotton cultivation expert on working conditions from the SÜDWIND Institute, she confirmed to me that Dibella India was one of the best companies I could work with in the field of organic cotton. She also advises the federal government on issues relating to working conditions in cotton cultivation in general and organic cotton in particular.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabine-ferenschild-566b33184/?originalSubdomain=de
At the end of autumn 2023, I will travel to India with a group led by Ralf Hellmann to be part of the cotton harvest and to get to know the production sites and the people involved in the various production processes.
Please feel free to call me if you have any further questions about our organic cotton handkerchiefs.
With cloud-soft greetings
Silke Kretzing"