Tesco has started introducing a wide range of Fairtrade cotton and organic garments to stores, as it gears up to hit clothing sales of £1 billion for its financial year ending next month.

The grocer is set to become the world’s biggest retailer of Fairtrade cotton – behind Marks & Spencer – by selling between 15 million and 20 million men’s, women’s and children’s garments. This includes converting some of its Cherokee, F&F and Stone Bay lines and bringing in new Fairtrade t-shirts, socks and jeans lines under those brands.

Tesco clothing technical category manager Alan Wragg said the number of garments equates to 5,000 tonnes of Fairtrade cotton from Africa and India – a third of the global amount available each year.

The grocer will also introduce about 5 million organic cotton garments – which are defined by its production methods – by spring. The move comes as a Tesco source confirmed its clothing sales for the financial year ending in February will be about£1 billion.

Tesco updates on Christmas trading next week, but does not separate clothing figures.

The grocer will ramp up its Tesco Direct clothing offer this year and launch menswear online in the autumn.

A Tesco spokeswoman said it was “pleased” with its fledgling trial of womenswear online, which launched last November (Retail Week, September 28).

This week, Retail Week learned that Sainsbury’s wants to launch a trial of Tu clothing online before the end of 2008. Previously, Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King had said it would not launch before March 2010.

Asda said the launch of its George clothing online – expected next month – is likely to happen in the second half of this year.

Topics