University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

A VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIC
COTTON INDUSTRY: THE CASE OF UK RETAILERS
AND INDIAN SUPPLIERS.
Alison Rieple (Corresponding author)
University of Westminster
Northwick Park
London HA1 3TP, UK
Tel +44 (0)20 7911 5000
&
Rajbir Singh
University of Westminster
Northwick Park
London HA1 3TP, UK
Note: I am very sad to have to report that Rajbir was killed in a car accident in India in June
(2009).
Abstract
151
This paper analyses the different activities within the value chain of organic cotton in India to
understand where, and how, value is added in each of the stages of the production process.
Transforming a cotton crop into a textile and then into a final item of clothing involves many
stages of processing, often in many different countries, using many skills and technologies. We
examine this chain from the farming of the cotton crop (in this case in India) to its eventual sale
in clothes’ retailers (in this case in the UK).
Key words: Fashion industry; organic cotton; value chain analysis; India.
Introduction
This paper analyses the different activities within the value chain of organic cotton in
India to understand where, and how, value is added in each of the stages of the
production process. A value chain analysis is a method of studying and analysing
how value is added at different activities, normally within an organisational setting,
through examining the costs of various activities and how these activities are
coordinated (Porter 1985). However this concept has also been used to study
international trade from a political economy framework (Gereffi and Korzeniewicz
1994; Girvan 1987) and at an industry-wide level (Dahlstrom and Ekins 2005), and
in line with these views and an earlier, less detailed, cotton industry analysis (van
Elzakker 1999) this paper adopts an industry wide scope.
Transforming a cotton crop into a textile and then into a final item of clothing
involves many stages of processing, often in many different countries, using many