Olymp loader
Search
Search
Store Locator
Login
Shopping cartGo to Shopping cart Your cart is empty.
Our most important raw material: Cotton
Cotton, with its unique wearing and care characteristics, is indispensable for the manufacture of our high-quality OLYMP shirts, pullovers, T-shirts and polo shirts. Even more important for us is sustainability when sourcing this raw material. Our aim is to further increase step by step the high proportion of sustainably and fairly produced cotton in our products. In 2018, OLYMP joined the Better Cotton Initiative (BC) in order to promote the ecological and socially responsible cultivation of cotton and at the same time to maintain the high technical and quality requirements of our products, in particular in the business shirt segment.
Our commitment at a glance

The Better Cotton Initiative is a non-profit organisation whose aim is to promote the cultivation and use of sustainably produced cotton worldwide. Its work focuses on training initiatives that provide the cotton growers with comprehensive knowledge about the sustainable management of their farmland, and the improvement of working conditions in the regions of origin around the globe. The growing number of members and the increasing demand for Better Cotton are intended to encourage ever more cotton farmers to convert to sustainable growing methods.

More about BCI
Sourcing our cotton through the Better Cotton Initiative: the principle of mass balance
Our goal is to continue to increase, step by step, the high proportion of sustainable and fairly produced cotton when sourcing our products.
In 2019, 77 percent of our cotton was already sourced via the BCI.
In 2020 it will be at least 80 percent.
For 2021 we are also aiming for at least 80 percent sourcing through Better Cotton.  

In addition to our commitment to sustainable cotton as member of the Better Cotton Initiative, we will begin with the introduction of organic cotton in our OLYMP casual segment in 2021.
Sourcing cotton through the Better Cotton Initiative is based on the principle of mass balance. BCI cotton is grown by specially trained and tested cotton farmers and is fed into the textile value chain as licensed cotton. When it is worked into yarns, fabrics and finished products, Better Cotton may be mixed with conventional cotton. In the end product, it is therefore not possible to prove which part consists of which type of cotton. However, using a digital platform, it is possible to ensure that the amount of Better Cotton declared is not less than the amount that is actually in circulation. In brief: The balance between the purchased and the sold amount must always correspond. Hence the term “mass balance”.

This means in effect: The cultivation of ecological and socially acceptable cotton is promoted to the same extent that OLYMP purchases BCI cotton.
More about the principle of mass balance BCI
This might also be of interest to you