How GOTS Traceability Supports a Naturetex QR Code

Jeffrey Thimm describes a Naturetex QR-code example he saw in Egypt and explains the difference between GOTS traceability and tools that show it to shoppers.

When I spoke with Jeffrey Thimm about organic production and fibre traceability at GOTS, I wanted to know whether a shopper could follow the journey behind a finished textile. His answer distinguished the information recorded in the supply chain from the tools that let a buyer see it.

An example he had seen in Egypt

In our interview on 24 November 2025, Jeffrey described visiting SEKEM in Egypt and seeing Naturetex products with a QR code that showed their journey. He connected that example with GOTS traceability, while making clear that the display was not a GOTS tool.

“It’s not our tool for the display of that traceability,” he said. GOTS was working on digital tools as part of digital product passports and the desire for more transparency.

This was an example Jeffrey reported seeing. He did not identify a particular shirt in the interview, demonstrate a scan on our call, or say that every GOTS product already offered the same display.

Tracking a journey and showing it to a buyer

“From a consumer or buyer perspective,” Jeffrey said, “we’re not quite there yet in terms of showing it.” He explained that the level of traceability existed, while work continued on tools that could make the journey easier to see.

That qualification belongs beside the Egypt example. A supply-chain system and a customer-facing QR page are related, but they are different parts of the experience. His account did not establish that a universal public scanning tool was ready.

What I would ask after scanning

For me, the useful question is what information sits behind the screen. Which product does it describe? Which businesses and steps does it identify? What certification information can I check? A clear-looking page is a starting point for those questions.

Jeffrey’s Naturetex example gave our conversation a specific place and producer. The larger story was the work of making textile traceability visible to buyers, with some examples already in use and broader tools still being developed at the time we spoke.

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