CaliforniaApparelNews
Threading Through The Global Market
by Susan Belknap March 14, 2008
Worldwide competition is fierce. This is particularly evident in the fabric and fiber industry because of the universality of apparel. In every country, fiber is almost as ubiquitous as food in that every culture has some means of developing it, however basic.
No company understands the benefits and drawbacks of manufacturing, marketing and selling fiber on a global scale like Buhler Quality Yarns Corp., a subsidiary of Hermann Buhler AG in Switzerland, which earned $25 million last year on sales of premium-quality fabrics.
Global giant
Jefferson, Ga.–based Buhler Quality Yarns currently markets nine branded products, including U.S. Supima Ringspun, SwissCotton Organic and SwissCotton Rainbow. This manufacturer of fine-count, combed yarns is determined to hold its global market presence by maintaining standards of quality, accountability and customer service. Buhler yarns are made exclusively from American Pima cotton, or extra-long staple cotton, under the brand name Supima.
Grown in the Southwest United States, American Pima has a cotton fiber of 34 millimeters. Buhler relies on this high-grade cotton fiber to produce fine shirting and high-end apparel, says David Sasso, Buhler’s vice president of international sales.
According to the Web site for Supima (www.supimacotton.org), a promotional organization for American Pima cotton growers, Pima yarns account for only 3 percent of annual cotton production in the United States. Pima’s fineness and long staple length make it a premium cotton fiber. It is used to spin higher-count yarns, which can be knitted or woven into soft, fine, luxurious fabrics.
“Because of our commitment to superior quality and customer service, we are continually developing new products to best serve our client base,” Sasso says.
One particular fabric Sasso is excited about these days is its SwissCotton Rainbow fabric. Rainbow is a pretreated, high-grade cotton yarn that absorbs dyes much more deeply than regular untreated cotton, he says. Because of the different dyeing properties, patterns woven or knitted into the fabric can be made visible in the desired color after piece dyeing. Various levels of color intensities can be achieved by using a combination of Rainbow yarns with different levels of the Rainbow treatment.
“By dyeing an item in garment form, the lead time for multicolor articles is reduced drastically,” Sasso says. “Popular colors can be produced very quickly, reducing inventory risks.”
Buhler is emphatic about maintaining stringent quality- control procedures, especially now that the company is faced with aggressive competition from the Chinese market.
“Some disreputable suppliers are blending inferior cotton fibers with Pima and branding it as 100 percent Pima—that is an illegal and unfair competitive practice. And customers are not getting the quality they are paying for,” Sasso says. “Our only real recourse is educating our customers so they know the difference. … Maintaining licensing standards is the only way we can really do this.”
Because Buhler, a manufacturer of American Supima cotton, is licensed to use the Supima brand, an apparel maker using Buhler fibers can use hangtags to certify that its fabrics are made from the highest-grade Buhler Quality Yarns.