The Tonrose Group has become the first trade company to display a new Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) mark on the linen it sells into the hospitality sector.

The company, which owns brands including Tonrose (hotel and leisure linen supply) and Tradelinens (luxury linen division), hopes the new scheme will help influence others to join BCI.

Speaking to Footprint, the groupsΆ marketing director Catherine Morris said there was increasing recognition of BCI across the sector. However, she admitted that those involved in FMCG are still way ahead when it comes to ethical sourcing.

Morris said that when it comes to ethical procurement, the hospitality sector had focused its efforts on the food and drink offer, with everything from craft ale to line caught fish.

But customers are looking beyond these “mature parts of the business. Bedrooms are the largest revenue generator and so itΆs strange that they havenΆt evolved at the pace of food and drink [when it comes to sustainability],” she added. “We are definitely seeing a much more ethically aware client.”

BCI was established in 2009 to address the most pressing sustainability issues in global cotton cultivation, with an equal focus on environmental, social and economic impact. The initiative aims to transform cotton production worldwide by developing “better cotton” as a sustainable mainstream commodity.