The Hermes Logistik Gruppe Germany (HLGD) is the cotton initiative’s Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) newest partner. Since November, the company expects to outfit its 13,000 parcel delivery staff in Germany with cotton made according to the environmental and social standards of Cotton made in Africa. Hermes and CmiA will thus support around 475,000 CmiA cotton farmers who produce the raw material on the African continent using sustainable methods.
By entering into the cooperation, Hermes has fundamentally switched to using exclusively Cotton Made in Africa cotton. The first delivery of CmiA textiles has been in use at Hermes parcel service since the end of November. Roughly 30,000 items in the CmiA label are already complementing the versatile outfits of the Hermes delivery staff in the current holiday shopping season.
“We are pleased with the successful start of the cooperation,” says Dr. Philip Nölling, CFO of Hermes Logistik Group Germany. “The initiative will pay directly to our sustainability program that has been in development at Hermes since 1986. This includes the high quality outfits worn by our delivery staff which must satisfy the daily high demands placed on textiles in terms of protection and comfort. Thanks to Cotton made in Africa, we receive a raw material that has been reliably produced under strict social and environmental conditions.”
By implementing sustainable cultivation conditions in the Cotton made in Africa standards, CmiA cotton is clearly better ecologically produced than conventional cotton. When broken down, this means that for every t-shirt, CmiA saves around 1,500 liters of water from the rain-fed crops. Under the growing conditions, this also means that smallholder farmers achieve a higher yield and thus a higher income.