Consumer shopping habits driving the need for brand and product sustainability

In the past years we have seen that consumers are more educated and show a sustainability conscious mindset about products they buy and brand loyalty, and  COVID-19 has created further opportunity to build back better.  A survey on Global Consumer Perception on Sustainable Raw Materials in Fashion and Home Textiles conducted in early 2020, indeed revealed a strong consumer interest in sustainable materials, preferred brands and preferred labels and product descriptions.

Sales for products with labels such as “farm to table,” “fair trade,”
and “ethically sourced” displayed record growth levels in 2019, with
projections suggesting the market for these products will experience
growth between 2019 and 2025. (PR Newswire Ethical Labels, World Market Report 2020-2025) 

Specifically in the textile industry there's been a significant increase in sustainability standards and chain-of-custody systems which help validate claims for preferred raw materials, such as recycled content, organic content etc. According to Textile Exchange's Preferred Fiber and Materials Market report 2020, the two leading standards for textiles made with recycled materials, the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), are growing fast and experienced significant growth YOY 2018-2019.

At Intertek we support organizations with 3rd party certifications for these standards along with solutions for traceability in supply chain. For more information check
https://www.intertek.com/assurance/sourceclear/