Jim Krueger
Chief Executive Officer Consolidated Pathways
Customer-centric approach to innovation
The year was 1935 and an American wholesale dealer of shoes wanted a solution to the terrible odour in work shoes that were associated with stinky feet. After some research he came up with a solution which marked the beginning of the Sanitized brand. Based in Midland, Michigan, US, Consolidated Pathways, Inc has over two decades of experience commercialising polymer-based antimicrobials and sustainable surface modification technologies. In a chat with Paulami Chatterjee, Jim Krueger, CEO of Consolidated Pathways, speaks about the company’s business model.
What is the core business area of Consolidated Pathways?
Consolidated Pathways is in a unique position of working with, what we consider, the very best technologies that are capable of empowering consumers to be more sustainable through the products that they purchase. Our core business is to work with brands and retailers to help them provide consumers with products that fulfill their previously unmet desires to be more sustainable. When global sustainability studies like the Cone Social Responsibility study show that 81 per cent of consumers cite the lack of availability of sustainable products as the largest barrier to purchasing more, it is clear to Consolidated Pathways that our mission needs to empower consumers by providing them with products that are not only sustainable in the way they are made, but are capable of providing the consumer with the opportunity to be more sustainable as they use that product throughout its extended useful life.
As a technical representative for the Sanitized line of antimicrobial products, what kind of technical advice do you provide to the Sanitized team?
The depth and breadth of knowledge that each company has regarding antimicrobials and textiles is impressive. Our partnership with Sanitized is one where we combine the knowledge and experience bases from both companies and the synergies that result from shared perspectives and vision is nothing short of amazing. Both Sanitized and Consolidated Pathways have built their reputation on a customer-centric approach to innovation that is transparent and founded on well-established data. Consolidated Pathways has an extensive amount of experience in testing and development with considerable regulatory understanding while Sanitized innovation has deep roots that utilise the latest science, extensive networks and of course Swiss precision. That combination of experience and insight provides our brand and retail partners with a level of expertise and innovation that simply cannot be found elsewhere.
Which geographies will be targeted? What will be the deciding factors?
Consolidated Pathways and Sanitized are global in scope but our association with Archroma and the Sanitized coproducers allow us to provide Sanitized products to every textile producing country in the world. The primary market segments that Consolidated Pathways is focusing on are consumer textiles. Our goal to provide textile features that empower consumers to improve their day-to-day sustainability through the textiles they purchase keeps our primary focus on apparel and home fashions in those locales that can provide the greatest impact for sustainability.
What kind of products and solutions do you offer to the textile industry with help of your partners?
With Sanitized we offer the standard antimicrobial technologies that are often associated with odour-control, but we also offer unique packages of plant-based antimicrobials and antiodour technologies that are non-biocidal and plant-based technologies in this area as well. Consolidated Pathways also provides unique moisture and temperature management systems that enhance the performance properties of textiles that can be readily incorporated into the Sanitized odour controlling technologies that we provide.
Tell us more about your partnership with Sanitized AG. How is the partnership going to benefit the textiles industry and end-consumers world over?
Sanitized is a very unique company with a long history of antimicrobial performance and innovation. We are excited to be working with such an innovative, customer centric and results oriented company. It’s great that Sanitized and Consolidated Pathways are very like-minded in our approach to understanding consumer desires and translating that information into products and programmes that help our brand and retailer partners use these innovations to meet the recognized needs of the consumer—wherever they reside. We have a global footprint that allows us to be sensitive to local needs because our services are provided, not only at the corporate headquarters of the major retailers, but also at the local level in far flung countries where manufacturing is often located. This global experience provides us with local roots that increase our sensitivity to what consumers and workers are experiencing worldwide. There is a certain responsibility that we are enjoined to because of where we serve, and we recognise and embrace those responsibilities for what they are.
Does India seem to be a potential market for you?
As you look at how Consolidated Pathways defines our mission and our goal it becomes obvious that India is a key market that will significantly impact global sustainability. While the textile mills in India will play an even larger role in future textiles supply and global sustainability, we believe that the consumers in India will embrace the opportunity to increase their individual sustainability through the textile products they purchase and then maintain. The family is such an important part of our culture here in India and that mindset translates into the broader social responsibility that sustainability represents. We are very excited about our existing partnerships in India, and we look forward to being a good partner in India for decades to come.
Where does circularity and sustainability figure in your scheme of things?
Sustainability is the primary component of the Consolidated Pathways mission, goal and plan. Sustainability and circularity often get confused with each other when; in fact, they can be very synergistic in their application. The reliability of Sanitized, a Swiss company that has been providing antimicrobial protection for 85 years in a traceable and transparent manner, makes the partnership of Sanitized and Consolidated Pathways unique for global brands and retailers. Our development of products that empower consumers to reduce their consumption of water and energy while also minimising their expulsion of waste into the environment helps consumers to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We also work to have our developmental products be circular. As an example, the plant-based non-biocidal odour control product at Sanitized that is in the last stage of development is carbon negative in its production and from a technospheric perspective allows us to make use of underutilised, replenishable resources that do not displace food production.
What kind of marketing and promotional strategy will you employ to commercialise products of Sanitized AG?
The existing Sanitized branding strategy is very mature and so well executed that it really allows Consolidated Pathways to focus on developing strategic partnerships with those brands and retailers that really value the relationships that can be built with consumers by adopting the unique technologies and branding programme that Sanitized offers. We look forward to helping those brands and retailers tap into the 81 per cent of consumers who want to have their personal sustainability enhanced by the products they purchase. That is what Sanitized offers and what Consolidated Pathways is fortunate enough to provide to our partners.
What does the Sanitized seal imply?
The Sanitized seal provides a unique signature telling consumers that this product performs as expected. Because the use of the Sanitized brand is dependent on a product meeting-specific performance expectation, consumers can depend on this performance brand to reflect that the properties they expect from a Sanitized branded product will be present—time after time.
What are your future plans? Any new partnership in the offing?
Our focus for the next 24 months is the optimisation of our existing products and the commercialization of our developmental products with our existing channel partners while expanding the brands and retailers that we partner with to bring these unique features to products that can empower consumers to be an important part of the sustainability equation. In our minds, every new purchase of a product designed to empower consumer sustainability is another partnership in sustainability.
What new innovations you are likely to come up with to meet the demands of a COVID-hit world?
The innovations for SARS-Cov2 are reinventions of existing technologies. Sanitized, with its extensive experience and technological advances, has been on the leading edge with their technologies, but rather than grabbing headlines with grandiose claims they have chosen to take the responsible approach of alerting the public to the limitations of antiviral and antimicrobial products. Yes, these antiviral and antimicrobial products are effective, but they are only one component of an important hygiene regime which is part of an even greater virus defense that also includes social distancing and vaccination.
Which are the major brands and retailers who have got empaneled with you for the Sanitized products?
Sanitized is the most experienced antimicrobial company in the world with over 85 years of commercial activity in this industry. Sanitized technologies have been utilised by most major retailers and brands around the world and is the most recognized brand of antimicrobials all over. Since the pandemic, nearly every person in the world has had the word “sanitized” engrained in their mind from both public health officials and from their moms. While it won’t be comprehensive by any means, I would direct readers to The House (sanitized.house) on the Sanitized website to see some of the brands that have given permission for Sanitized to use their name along with the treated products that are creatively displayed in The House. Sanitized also has an agreement with Archroma.
How is that different from your agreement?
The partnership with Archroma is another area that excites Consolidated Pathways in regard to our work with Sanitized. Archroma is a long-time partner with Sanitized. It is one of the leading textile chemical providers to the textiles industry and their ability to deliver Sanitized performance to their customer mills is highly valued by both Sanitized and Consolidated Pathways. Because Archroma provides a variety of specialty chemicals to the textiles industry, Sanitized decided to bring in Consolidated Pathways to focus on sustainable odour control and expand the reach of Sanitized to a broader segment of the expanding textile marketplace. The Consolidated Pathways agreement is to represent Sanitized to the brands and retailers both as a brand ambassador and technical representative. Our extensive experience in antimicrobial textiles allows us to work with brand and retailers to help develop programmes that match consumer needs and provide Archroma with opportunities to work on odour control projects that they might not otherwise have an opportunity to participate in. This helps expand the Archroma customer base for their other textile finishes as well.
This article was first published in the June 2021 edition of the print magazine.
Published on: 21/06/2021
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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