by Jayci Bishop
Carlos Garcia is taking his cotton industry service to the next level as he was selected as the 2022 President of Cotton Council International. CCI is the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council.
Garcia began working at PCCA in 1997 in the Maintenance Department while attending Texas Tech University. During that time, opportunities arose and doors opened in the Sales Department. Upon graduation he was offered the Export Sales position. Today, he is PCCA’s Export Sales Manager and also coordinates sustainability initiatives like the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, BCI and e3. He began his CCI involvement when he was selected to serve on its board in 2016. After three years on the board, he was elected to serve on the Executive Board where he entered into the officer rotation. His new role as CCI President shares similarities to his day-to-day work with PCCA.
“One of the main roles of CCI is the promotion of U.S. cotton to textile mills around the world, and that’s what I do on a daily basis for the members of PCCA,” Garcia said. “My focus now shifts primarily from Southwest Cotton to all U.S. cotton, something that even before my involvement in CCI was something I practiced. When I could not offer our members’ cotton on a specific inquiry, I always promoted cotton from one of the other U.S. cotton-growing areas.”
CCI uses multiple approaches to promote cotton’s use in textiles.
“We work very hard on promoting U.S. cotton and its advantages to other growths,” Garcia said. “Not only that, but we also promote the benefits of all cottons versus man-made and other natural competing fibers. CCI has offices in most textile-consuming countries around the world, and the people in those countries have very good relationships with the spinners and end-users of our cotton. CCI also does a good job of engaging brands and retailers, who ultimately decide what fibers they will use in their products.”
Enhancing sustainability programs is a top priority for Garcia during his time with CCI. Brands that consume U.S. cotton could stake their claim in demonstrating their use of climate-friendly practices to their end-user, he said. For growers, this begins by measuring and capturing the improved environmental footprint of their farming operations.
“I really want to get the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol from the pilot phase to a completely up and running program that will provide and prove the advantage of a measurable, science-based, data-driven program,” Garcia said. “This will not only prove beneficial to the brands who can then market the sustainability story of U.S. cotton but for our producers that have supported and currently support our efforts to tell that story on their behalf. We hope that in time we not only retain and gain further market share in the global fiber industry, but also that participation in the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol potentially adds value for our participating farmers’ efforts in telling their story.”
While Garcia’s commitment to CCI is significant, ultimately it will be to the benefit of PCCA and the entire cotton industry.
“It will continue to put PCCA farmers at the forefront of mill cotton demand,” Garcia said. “I’m fortunate that PCCA already enjoys a very favorable reputation in regards to quality and reliability. CCI only adds to that credibility. When mill customers think of high-quality, reliable, sustainable cotton, they’ll think of PCCA.”
At the end of the day Garcia will continue to devote his time and energy to PCCA’s grower-owners.
“While I am honored and humbled to serve as President of CCI, I don’t think it changes anything in terms of my responsibility to our industry or PCCA’s farmers,” Garcia said. “My role remains the same, promoting and creating demand for U.S. cotton by engaging our customers and explaining the benefits of using cotton.”
