Danish furniture retailer JYSK has achieved a sustainable milestone in its cotton production as well as outlining further Irish market plans.

From 1 January 2025, all newly purchased cotton used in JYSK’s textile products is from more sustainable cotton production instead of newly produced cotton.

A large part of JYSK’s assortment, such as bed linen, towels, duvets, pillows, and blankets, contains cotton. Since 2020, JYSK has had the goal that from 2025, all newly purchased cotton used in JYSK’s products should originate from more sustainable cotton production than newly produced cotton. More sustainable cotton production means either recycled cotton, organic cotton or cotton from Better Cotton.

Better Cotton is the world’s leading organisation in more sustainable cotton production, which ensures that farmers are trained to use less water and fewer pesticides in production, as well as ensuring fair working conditions for farmers.

“I am very pleased that we can now tick off this milestone. We have long focused on the greatest possible responsibility in our products, from the choice of raw materials to production, packaging and transport, and cotton is a strong example of this. For us, a good offer is not only about price, but also securing the customer that sustainability is taken into account,” says Compliance & Quality Director in JYSK, Lars Ringtved Nielsen.

In addition to the fact that all newly purchased cotton used in JYSK’s products must originate from more sustainable cotton production, JYSK has also had OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certification since 2018 on the majority of the products where more than 80% of the weight consists of textile fibers. These are products such as: NORA towel, TUSINDFRYD duvet and HEMLA mattress.

OEKO-TEX® is a label for textiles that have been tested for harmful substances and is a guarantee that the product is not harmful to health. Products with the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 label have been tested for more than 1,000 potentially harmful substances, and when an item is labelled, it means that the entire item, including zippers, buttons or other parts, has also been tested.

“It is important to us that our customers can feel safe when they buy goods such as towels and pillowcases that come into close contact with the skin. With OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100, we know that they have been tested and do not contain problematic or harmful substances,” says Lars Ringtved Nielsen.

In total, the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 label can be found on more than 8,000 products globally in JYSK.

Furthermore, JYSK has also confirmed plans to continue its expansion in Ireland with a new head office in Park West Business Park as well as five new stores in the country.

The new head office in Park West Business Park has seen an investment of €250,000, and it will house up to 50 JYSK head office employees across all departments.

This adds to its 8,000sqft JYSK dark store, which opened in November last year to significantly help reduce the delivery times to customers.

The new stores will be located in Tullamore in Co. Offaly, Blackpool in Co. Cork and Swords Pavilions in Dublin in early 2025. Two more store openings are in the pipeline later in the year.