Olah to use Bayer's cottonseed brands for labeling

03 Feb '11

2 min read

Bayer CropScience and New York-based textile and apparel company Olah Inc. have signed a licensing agreement to use the Bayer CropScience cotton brand names FiberMax and Stoneville. Under this ten-year agreement, Olah has been granted an exclusive license to develop and market the two brands for apparel and home furnishings. The agreement covers initially North America, Mexico and Japan and can be extended to more countries. It also includes the right to sublicense the brand names to other manufacturers. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Both FiberMax and Stoneville cotton brands are well-known in the cotton and apparel industries, and each offers a unique quality profile that is appealing to different segments of the textile industry. FiberMax is high quality, long-staple upland cotton mainly grown in the United States that is ideally suited for finished goods that require finer yarns for manufacturing. Such products include t-shirts, chinos, towels and bedsheets. Stoneville cotton is strong and suitable for use in heavier weight fabrics and apparel including rugged outdoor work, sports and casual wear such as jeans.

As a result of this agreement, for the first time, consumers will be able to purchase cotton garments or home furnishing goods labeled as manufactured with FiberMax or Stoneville cotton. This branding approach will benefit consumers in two major ways. Firstly, consumers will know immediately that the fabrics have been manufactured from high-quality cotton fiber. Secondly, FiberMax and Stoneville goods will be identified with cotton growers from different areas, answering the consumer's growing desire for information about the origin of the products they buy.

“Together, Olah Inc. and Bayer CropScience will create a unique connection between cotton producers, spinners, merchants, textile manufacturers, retailers and consumers,” said Joachim Schneider, Head of the BioScience business group at Bayer CropScience. “And Bayer CropScience will continue to invest heavily in growing its cotton business, including new research and development innovations targeted at improving fiber quality, yields and stress tolerance.”

“This agreement provides us with the means to develop new products for today's consumers using best-in-class technology, production techniques and style,” said Olah Inc.'s CEO Andrew Olah. “At the same time it grants us the ability to document the origin of the cotton used in our apparel and home furnishing products on a mass scale, thus providing consumers with transparency that is revolutionary in today's apparel business.”

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