Bakersfield is a city in California that is about a two-hour drive north from Los Angeles Airport.

 
Its location in the Tulare Basin gives it a climate with a large difference in day and night temperatures, which makes it very suitable for growing cotton.

In fact, it is a thriving place that not only produces cotton, but crops such as pistachios, almonds, tomatoes, and alfalfa, through scientifically advanced agricultural methods.

Supima Cotton and San Joaquin Cotton are the most common types of cotton produced in the area.

Supima Cotton is cleaned slowly with a roller gin but the more conventional, and faster, saw gin is used to clean San Joaquin Cotton. The slower roller gin method doesn’t damage cotton with extra long staple fibers and a soft texture. This is what makes Ultima Cotton. 

In the US, we worked with Jess Smith & Sons, who holds the Ultima trademark, to put this type of cotton into Japanese spinning operations.

Normal San Joaquin Cotton has staple fibers that are about 28mm long, but Jess Smith & Sons’ Ultima has long, soft staple fibers that are about 32mm long and flexible enough to make any yarn.

Yarns spun with the MVS system, even if they have a somewhat harder texture, are more moisture-absorbent and have a faster drying rate, which make fabrics made from this kind of yarn, easier to wear.