In late March, the Barnhardt team traveled to sunny Miami Beach for the 2019 IDEA Conference, the premier global event for nonwovens and engineered fabrics, two important sectors for the company’s purified cotton products.
The IDEA Conference, an event produced by the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) took place March 25-28 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The annual conference attracts more than 7,000 attendees and more than 550 exhibiting companies from over 70 countries representing nearly every continent.
The 2019 Conference featured an interesting slate of training topics along three tracks: absorbent hygiene, filter media (water and air), and wet wipes (making nonwovens specific to wet wipes). In the absorbent hygiene track, the education focused on making nonwovens, specifically absorbent hygiene in FemCare and incontinence, as well as diaper and incontinence.
Showcasing the company’s new booth, the Barnhardt team that descended on the IDEA event included President Lewis Barnhardt, Vice President of Sales and Marketing George Hargrove, Director of Product Management Wade Hubbard, Director of Marketing Deanna Lessard, Director of Nonwoven Purified Cotton Sales Ginny Casstevens, and Purified Cotton Sales Account Manager Levin Lynch. While at the conference, the Barnhardt executive group met with attendees from across Asia (including China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India, and Pakistan), Australia, eastern and western Europe, South America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile), and Central America.
At IDEA 2019, Barnhardt displayed a pair of specialty fabrics designed specifically for the nonwovens industry serving baby and feminine hygiene products, Organic High Q Ultra® and the company’s conventional High Q Ultra®. The two High Q variations featured in large display cabinets, allowing attendees to touch and feel the innate softness of purified cotton. These two products, along with HyDri® and Organic HyDri® have become staples for their intended hygiene applications.
In addition to the High Q and HyDri product families, the Barnhardt team also offered samples of HiLoft®, NeedleEze® High Q, and UltraClean® comber for attendees to take with them from the conference.
“From our many booth visits and meetings with interested manufacturers from around the world, it’s apparent that the demand for purified cotton continues to grow,” said Hargrove. “Consumers worldwide continue to demand natural fibers for hygiene products specifically ranging from babies to feminine care. It’s also interesting to note the increased global demand for organic cotton for specific applications.”
For more information on the 2019 IDEA Conference, visit www.idea2019.com.