In late March, Adidas presented its new environmental strategy with a goal of using 100% BetterCotton by 2018 in an attempt to reduce its environmental footprint.
Plenty of countries in Asia and Africa have natural conditions that are better for growing cotton than those in Texas, where much of the world's cotton comes from.
Nonetheless, trade at its Primark stores was more intense than expected, which - along with lower than expected manufacturing costs due to a drop in cotton prices - helped the chain achieve better operating profit margins than a year ago.