Inditex acquires stake in US sustainable agriculture firm Galy

Spanish conglomerate Inditex, the parent company of Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull&Bear, has acquired a stake in US sustainable agriculture startup firm Galy as part of its wider sustainability strategy.

During the company's annual general meeting on Tuesday, CEO Oscar Garcia Maceiras revealed to shareholders that Inditex had acquired an undisclosed stake in the startup. Founded in 2019, the company has developed an innovative process using biotechnology to create lab-grown cotton from plant cells known as Literally Cotton.

The acquisition comes as Inditex commits to halving emissions across its entire supply chain by 203, and builds on other sustainability investments. In 2022 Inditex invested in Circ, a US fashion technology company specializing in textile recycling and signed a three-year commitment to purchase recycled fibers from Infinited Fiber company.

Together, these investments are meant to aid the Spanish company in achieving its goal of sourcing 40 percent of its fibers from traditional recycling methods and 25 percent from innovative materials by the end of 2030. 

One of the five winners of the 2020 H&M Foundation Global Change Award and the 2021 LVMH Innovation Award winner in the sustainability category, Galy lists Carmichael Roberts, co-founder of Material Impact and chairman of Kleiner Perkins, as well as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI CEO, among its current investors and stakeholders. 

However, during the annual meeting on July 9, several Inditex investors stressed the need for greater transparency within the company, asking the company to publish its supplier list and disclose its use of air cargo transport.

In response, Maceiras mentioned that the company provided "detailed supply chain information to certain stakeholders who requested it." However, he did not specify if Inditex would publicly share its list of top factories, as Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP requested at the meeting. 

Other competing fashion companies, like H&M, have already made their full supplier lists public.