Better Cotton, the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, announced today the recipients of its 2024 Member Awards.

This year’s awards – presented by Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton and Eva Benavidez Clayton, senior director of membership and supply chain – honoured members who have made an outstanding contribution to the cotton industry.

In the 2021/2022 season, Better Cotton retailer and brand members sourced an impressive 2.6 million tonnes of Better Cotton, accounting for more than 10% of the global cotton production.

The ceremony took place during a dinner cruise along the Bosphorus as part of the two-day Better Cotton Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, which gathered over 200 industry representatives to discuss ‘accelerating impact’ at field level.

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Chief executive officer at Better Cotton, Alan McClay, commented: “It’s a great privilege to once again host our Member Awards and celebrate the dedication and unrelenting efforts of our partners. Transformative change within the cotton sector is predicated on collaboration at all levels, and as Better Cotton’s network continues to grow it’s important that we take stock of the progress we continue to make as an industry.”

The 2024 Better Cotton Member Award Winners are:

The Top Contributor Award, in recognition of the organisations with the highest uptake of Better Cotton relative to their use of the material, went to:

• Walmart, for its significant uptake of Better Cotton in the large to very large member category

• John Lewis Partnership, for its significant uptake of Better Cotton in the very small to medium sized member category

The Sourcing Award, in recognition of cotton traders and intermediaries who processed the highest volume of Better Cotton, went to:

• Cargill Commodities, for its role in sourcing the highest volumes of Better Cotton in the cotton trader category

• Vicunha Têxtil, for its role in sourcing the highest volumes of Better Cotton in the intermediary category

The Impact Storyteller Award, in recognition of the organisation whose field-level insights generated the most interest on the Better Cotton website in the past 12 months, went to:

• Cotton Egypt Association, for featuring a story which shone a light on the people behind Better Cotton’s growing programme in Egypt, exploring the work underway to expand sustainable cotton production in the Nile Delta.

The Innovators Award, in recognition of the organisation for positively impacting farmers, fostering sustainable practices and improving livelihoods, went to:

• CABI, for its multifaceted work in Pakistan which has included the creation of a national organic agriculture policy for Pakistan that is currently being assessed by the country’s Ministry of Food Security and Research. If approved, the policy is expected to strengthen and build bridges between stakeholders working to promote sustainability.

The Outstanding Contribution Award, in recognition of Member organisations and their commitment to cotton farming communities, went to:

• İyi Pamuk Uygulamaları Derneği (IPUD), for implementing Better Cotton’s activities in Türkiye since 2013.