Certified Black Grown™ (CBG) is a provenance-based material verification system for cotton grown by Black farmers. Every ounce and yard of cotton fiber and fabric is tracked through documented chain-of-custody controls from farm to finished garment. No gaps. No proxies. No claims you can't defend.
No current U.S. standard tracks cotton by the identity of the grower, provides farm-to-garment chain of custody, or offers a licensable provenance designation tied to farmer identity. CBG fills that gap.
If that claim is ever challenged — by a journalist, an advocacy group, or an FTC inquiry — the institution is exposed, not the vendor who supplied the garment.
"CBG™ is not a sticker. It is a defensible paper trail — the only certification standard that governs origin claims of this specific kind."
Cotton must be grown on land with documented Black ownership or by Black farmers who identify with Black Americans with farm located within the United States.
Every handoff — farm to gin to mill to manufacturer — is documented with a chain-of-custody record. Each batch carries a reference number that can be audited.
The documented sequence of custody transfers from farm harvest through finished good production, sufficient to verify that CBG™ cotton has not been commingled with unverified fiber.
Fifth-generation Black land ownership since 1871. Upland cotton grown under CBG™ protocol and harvested to specification.
American textile mill processing CBG™ cotton from raw fiber through yarn production. Batch-tracked from intake to output.
American garment manufacturer finishing CBG™ certified product. Fort Payne is the historic sock capital of the United States.
Our supply chain extends beyond these three entities. This represents the verified chain for our sock program.
CBG™ does not sell a label. It licenses the right to make a specific, defensible claim — that the cotton in a product was grown on Black-owned American land and tracked through a documented chain of custody.
Ready to verify your claims? One conversation to find out if it works.