Lack of Eco-Clothing Hampers Sales

Consumers would increase sustainable apparel purchasing if only they could find it, according to a survey by Ryan Partnership Chicago and Mambo Sprouts Marketing.

Some 69 percent of consumers considered sustainability at least sometimes when purchasing clothing in 2011 and shoppers intend to double their eco-apparel purchases this year, according to the 2012 Styling Sustainability survey.  Click here for full story.

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NAT Named to the 2012 TSX Venture 50

Ranked 4th in the Clean Tech Sector

Victoria, B.C. and Portland, Ore. (February 22, 2012) – Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. (“NAT” or the “Company”) (TSXV: NAT) (OTCBB: NADVF), which produces and markets CRAiLAR, a natural fiber made from flax and other bast fibers, announced that TSX Venture Exchange has named the Company to its 2012 TSX Venture 50, a list assembled based on quantitative measurement of top performing publicly traded companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). NAT was ranked fourth in Clean Tech sector.  To read the full story click here.

CRAiLAR Flax Fiber Producers Contract Willamette Valley Advisor

Ralph Fisher, Veteran Ag Expert, to Work With NAT

Portland, Ore. – February 21, 2012 – Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. (NAT) (OTCBB: NADVF) (TSXV: NAT), which produces and markets CRAiLAR(r), a natural fiber made from flax and other bast fibers, announced today it has secured the services of Ralph Fisher, located in Salem, Ore., as a regional agronomic advisor to the company. In this capacity, Fisher will work with NAT to help contract planted acres of flax in Oregon. He will also work closely with NAT and Oregon State University (OSU) to evaluate strains, growth cycles and techniques that ensure the greatest yields in the region. Fisher, who obtained his B.S. in Crop Science from OSU in 1978, begins his work with the company immediately, with a focus on the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons.  To read the full story click here.

NAT, Tuscarora Team To Develop CRAiLAR® Flax Blends For New Application

Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. (NAT), Vancouver, Canada, has granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to Mt. Pleasant, N.C.-based Tuscarora Yarns Inc., under which Tuscarora will design and manufacture specialty yarns containing blends of NAT’s CRAiLAR® Flax fiber with cotton or other fibers. The yarns are being developed for sale and distribution to third-party Crailar licensees. NAT expects the partnership will open avenues for the fiber’s use in heretofore-unexplored apparel and home furnishings sectors.

“Tuscarora is one of the most innovative yarn spinners in the world, and has the ability to prepare us for entry into several unexplored categories such as couture fashion, sports performance, extreme weather gear, and certain sectors of home furnishings,” said NAT CEO Ken Barker. “This agreement will seek to push the applications of CRAiLAR beyond our first phase of cotton blending and establish new market sectors for this unique and sustainable natural fiber.”

Crailar technology comprises an enzymatic process that converts bast fibers such as hemp, flax, jute and kenaf into materials that are as soft as cotton but more durable and eco-friendly, according to NAT. These bast fibers can be blended with cotton and other fibers; and can be processed using existing spinning, weaving, knitting or other fabric-forming processes. Applications range from various apparel and home textiles products to industrial textiles.  To read the full story please click here.

Textiles 2012: The Prognosis Good

The U.S. industry’s rebound from the lows of the last decade is expected to continue into another year.

Robert S. Reichard, Economics Editor

The $70 billion U.S. textile and apparel sector is alive and, in fact, doing quite well. Too upbeat an appraisal? Not really — given the fact that even in today’s relatively lackluster business climate, these industries have managed to rack up gains for two consecutive years.

To be sure, the increases have been rather modest. Nevertheless, they mark a major change from the steady tattoo of declines and retrenchments that marked most of the past decade.

And the good news is almost sure to spill over into the new year. Again, any improvements will be far from spectacular. But, by and large, overall production, shipments and profit numbers should end up at or above 2011 levels when all the results are in.   To read the full story please click here.