A $500 million business highlights the opportunities for cotton. Recently, a breakfast discussion with Arun Agarwal, chief executive officer of Dallas-based Nextt lead Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA to believe that cotton can provide enormous new opportunities. Arun visited Lubbock with a mission to brand and promote Texas and United States’ cotton and interact with cotton researchers at Texas Tech University.
“West Texas cotton can surely compete with Egyptian cotton and branding efforts are needed,†stated Agarwal. He is already promoting Texas cotton as “Lone Star Cotton,†and his recent visit to Lubbock is part of the effort to promote and enhance the market opportunities for High Plains cotton.
Agarwal was impressed with the oil absorbency performance of the cotton based Towelieâ„¢ oil absorbent product, which he got introduced to, a few months back. Products like Towelieâ„¢ clearly promote the sustainable industrial applications of cotton, added Agarwal.
Agarwal’s Nextt, which is a $500 million company supplies cotton home textiles to giants like Wal-Mart, Costco, Kohl’s, to name a few. In revealing the secret to his success, Arun stated, “providing cost effective solutions to customers’ requirements, greatly helps.â€Â
Utilising unique attributes of a material, say for example the sustainable attribute of cotton will enable new opportunities. “Human connection is important, no matter what we do,†advised Agarwal.
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA