Candiani and Gowan have developed a strain of cotton called Blue Seed.

Candiani is an Italian denim mill. Gowan, based in the US, is an agricultural advising company. Blue Seed cotton is an exclusive hybrid, non-GMO cotton variety, designed to be a stronger fiber but also more resistant in the field, requiring less water and chemicals than traditional cotton. The crops have been planted–and thrived–in Spain, Greece and the US so far.

Candiani started collaborating with Gowan after acquiring the genetics of the magical hybrid GMO-free seed. Candiani was targeting a superior quality type of cotton which had to be GMO free so it could be cultivated in the EU and could go organic too. This particular variety already existed, but it was languishing in obscurity and so together with its farming partners Candiani rescued it and renamed it Blue Seed. The seed is actually blue.

Blue Seed was birthed through cross-pollination of GMO-free upland and extra long staple, resulting in the best advantages from both parent plants. The current Blue Seed has also much higher strength and tenacity. Candiani and Gowan are currently looking into the development of other varieties. Candiani found excellent results in an experiment when it grew Blue Seed cotton at an institute in California with its Coreva natural stretch fiber as a regenerative fertilizer.