Hermes to outfit staff from African cotton made garments

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 the beginning of 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 Gruppe 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. Considering the production of one t-shirt, this means that CmiA saves around 1,500 liters of water from the rain-fed crops per shirt. Under the growing conditions, this also means that smallholder farmers achieve a higher yield and thus a higher income.

Cotton made in Africa

Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) is an initiative of the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) that provides assistance in helping people help themselves through trade, to improve the living conditions of cotton farmers and their families in Sub-Saharan Africa. Last year approximately 475,000 smallholder farmers in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, and the Ivory Coast participated in the CmiA program.

Cotton made in Africa (CmiA)